Election securityRussian Government Hackers Targeted Political Consulting Firm Working for Biden
Russia’s broad effort to help Donald Trump win reelection in November now extends to hacking political consulting firms. Reuters reports. Microsoft recently alerted Washington, D.C.-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with the Biden campaign, that Russian government hackers tried to hack the company. The hackers failed to gain access to the company’s networks, according to a source familiar with its response, Reuters said.
A campaign-advisory company working for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, a Reuters report has found, which the Kremlin dismissed as “nonsense.”
Microsoft recently alerted the company about the hacking attempt. The U.S. software company identified hackers tied to the Russian government as the likely culprits, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The hackers failed to gain access to the company’s networks, according to a source familiar with its response, Reuters said.
“They are well-defended, so there has been no breach,” the person said.
The company said to have been targeted was Washington, D.C.-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm.
The attacks included phishing, a method to trick users into disclosing passwords, the sources said.
SKDK Vice Chairwoman Hilary Rosen declined to comment. A Biden spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, and Microsoft spokesman declined to comment, according to Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on 10 September rejected the report.
“It looks like more nonsense that, unfortunately, respected news agencies publish sometimes,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
U.S. intelligence agencies have raised alarms about possible efforts by foreign governments to interfere in the 3 November presidential election.
This articleis reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty(RFE/RL).
