The FBI is now investigating another cyber attack by Russian government hackers, this time against the Democratic Party’s Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC. The committee, which raises money to get Democrats elected to house seats across the nation, was targeted by the same Russian intelligence service that hacked the Democratic National Committee — yep, those same hackers that Donald Trump “sarcastically” praised.
According to Reuters, the breach probably began in early June, when a “bogus website was registered with a name closely resembling that of a main donation site connected to the DCCC.” The IP address associated with that sham website “resembled one used by Russian government-linked hackers suspected in the breach of the DNC.” U.S. officials have already confirmed that there is ample evidence to suspect the Russian government was behind the DNC hack. The Washington Post reports that authorities are concerned “Moscow may be attempting to meddle in the U.S. election,” which would be “unprecedented” and “highly troubling.”
DCCC National Press Secretary Meredith Kelly said in a statement, “Based on the information we have to date, we’ve been advised by investigators that this is similar to other recent incidents, including the DNC breach.” The DNC and the DCCC share an office in Washington, D.C.
Further reports of the breach are popping up from journalists on social media.
UPDATE: DCCC confirms it has been targeted by hackers. Working with @CrowdStrike and FBI to investigate pic.twitter.com/jy1SzgAYTD
— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) July 29, 2016
DCCC now publicly confirming it has been hacked and has been advised incident similar to DNC hack. Investigation ongoing.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 29, 2016
(Vis Reuters & The Washington Post)