The Democratic National Committee is calling in the FBI after detecting an attempt by hackers to get into its voter database ahead of the November midterm election.
It is unclear who was behind the attempt.
The cyber intruders created a fake login page in an effort to gather usernames and passwords from officials but their phishing attempt was detected by security vendors who notified party officials.
The fake page was designed to look like the access page party officials and campaign officials use to log into a service called Votebuilder, CNN reported.
The Democratic National Committee detected an attempted hack of its voter database
cyber intruders created a fake login page in an effort to gather usernames and passwords
DNC officials are said to be investigating who is responsible for the attempt but they do not believe voter files were accessed or changed.
Intelligence officials have warned the foreign agents could attempt to influence this year’s election.
Russian hackers, in June and July of 2016, hacked the DNC’s email system and messages were leaked via DCLeaks and WikiLeaks. The emails suggested the party’s leadership favored Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid over Bernie Sanders and worked to help her win the nomination. Their revelation resulted in the resignation of then DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The page was initially discovered late Monday by Lookout, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity firm, who doesn’t work for the party but alert it to the finding.
Mike Murray, the company’s vice president of security intelligence, told CNN that a link to the page could have been sent via email or through other online platforms in a spearphishing operation.
‘It was very convincing,’ Murray said, noting that the real page and fake page were hard to tell apart.
‘It would have been a very effective attack,’ he said.
Bob Lord, chief security officer for the DNC, confirmed that it had detected the attempted breach.
‘This attempt is further proof that there are constant threats as we head into midterm elections and we must remain vigilant in order to prevent future attacks,’ Lord said in a statement to NBC.
‘While it’s clear that the actors were going after the party’s most sensitive information — the voter file — the DNC was able to prevent a hack by working with the cyber ecosystem to identify it and take steps to stop it.’
Earlier this month the White House put on a show of force about election meddling, trotting out five national security officials to offer assurances they were working to safeguard American votes while offering few specifics on how they were doing so.
‘Our democracy is in the crosshairs,’ Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen declared during the early August press briefing.
Earlier this month the White House put on a show of force about election meddling
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday there is ‘sufficient’ concern that China, Iran, and North Korea – in addition to Russia – could be interfering in the upcoming 2018 midterm election
President Donald Trump has asserted Russians are meddling in the upcoming contests to help Democrats.
‘I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!’ the president tweeted in late July.
His allegation came after he came under fire for siding with Vladimir Putin at their press conference in Helsinki when the Russian president said Moscow didn’t meddle in the 2016 contest. U.S. intelligence agencies claim the Russian did so.
Additionally, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday there is ‘sufficient’ concern that China, Iran, and North Korea – in addition to Russia – could be interfering in the upcoming 2018 midterm election.