14 DAY TRIAL // Hackers backed by the Russian government are believed to have breached the unclassified computer network of the White House recently, using a previous hack into the systems of the US Department of State, a report claims.
Back in November, the unclassified email system of the US Department of State was taken offline temporarily, a first in the history of the department; the same action was taken in mid-March 2015, but it targeted the main unclassified computer network.
Officially, the action was presented as a part of a scheduled maintenance task designed to implement additional security. But under the cover of anonymity, an official said that suspicious activity had been recorded around the same period when an intrusion on the White House unclassified systems had occurred.
Unclassified networks can hold data attractive to foreign intelligence
A report from CNN claims that the two incidents are related and that the Russian government was behind both of them, using the compromise of the State Department computers to get access to the unclassified network used at the White House.
Russian involvement in the White House incident has been speculated since the discovery of the attack, which appears to have occurred around early October 2014.
As opposed to a classified computer network, the unclassified one does not hold sensitive national security information.
However, it can be the host of important details, such as the non-public schedule of President Obama, which is deemed very sensitive and an important piece of information for foreign intelligence agencies, CNN was told by unnamed US officials.
There is no official word on attribution
According to the news publication, the attack on the White House network is considered among the most sophisticated attacks to have ever been launched against US government systems.
The tactics employed appear to be standard ones specific to breaches from more sophisticated groups, such as spear phishing and routing connections through multiple machines around the world to hide the real origin.
However, CNN says that investigators found markers they believe point to individuals under the employment of the Russian government.
Russian attribution has not been officially confirmed, though, but it was not denied either, suggesting that such an accusation still needs to be backed by solid evidence or that it is not ready to be publicly revealed.
When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to give more details about Russians breaking into State Department systems and then gaining access to White House’s unclassified network, Ben Rhodes, White House Deputy National Security Advisor, said that info on the cyber security efforts related to the matter could not be disclosed.