The Democratic Party are having a bad time with hackers the past few weeks. It’s been revealed that a computer network connected to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has been compromised. Not a good look for a potential president or the Democratic Party. Internet security is a big issue nowadays with the hacks that keep coming.
This is the third attack within a month. First, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had its emails hacked. Then, the Democratic House of Representatives had their fundraising committee information hacked. It’s interesting that there hasn’t been a Republican Party hack. But this could be more a question of luck than anything else.
The latest hack involved a program used for data analytics. The information held in the network pertained to analysing voter demographics and engagement, but not specific details have been released. It’s said that no social security or credit card numbers were accessed by the hackers.
According to a Clinton spokesperson, “Our campaign computer system has been under review by outside cyber security experts. To date, they have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised.” This is despite claims the hackers had access to the network for five days.
Who Did The DNC Hack?
Who the hackers involved are is a question no one wants to answer. The Obama Administration appears to be looking at the possibility of this attack being state-sponsored. There’s a lot of rumours going around that it’s got a Russian flavour to the crime. This is more conspiracy theory than fact.
The FBI are investigating the issue. Following research into the malware used, the claim is that there’s a basis for a Russian hack. There is a fear that if Russia is confronted about its involvement, then there could be bigger security fears than potential hacks.
Be Secure, Always
Whoever the hackers are, this shows that being cautious is best when it comes to sensitive data. Questions are to be asked regarding information. Do we really need to store all the data we are? Do the benefits of keeping everything and anything outweigh the security concerns? The NSA privacy scandals asked the public questions on how much information they should be required to share. Are we living in a world where the powerful should expect their information to be shared as well?
What answers the security and tech companies will have to provide better security will be interesting.
Source: Reuters
