14 DAY TRIAL // The infamous Democratic Party cyber-incident goes much deeper than previously believed, and many other organizations may be affected, according to sources inside the party and intelligence agencies quoted by the New York Times.
According to people with knowledge of the situation, the hackers supposedly accessed data from numerous other organizations associated with the Democratic Party and involved in the ongoing presidential race.
Details about the DNC (Democratic National Committee) hack came to light in mid-June, and then new information surfaced about a breach at the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) at the end of July.
US intelligence agencies blame the Russians, but not publicly
In both cases, the cyber-security firms that investigated the hacked servers were adamant that evidence showed links to past cyber-espionage campaigns perpetrated by Russian state-backed groups.
US authorities have been quiet as far as an official response is concerned, but members of the Democratic Party haven't shied away from blaming the Russians, accusing them of supporting Trump.
In fact, as the investigation continued, sources inside intelligence agencies confirmed to the New York Times that they too supported the theory of the Russian government being behind the attacks, but no official statements have been made yet.
Democrats fear more leaks
Sources inside the party have also revealed that the attacker also hit other organizations, like the Democratic Governors’ Association. In total, they believe that over 100 organizations and key part members had their emails hacked.
Democrats expect new documents to leak online as the presidential campaign nears its peak point in November.
Until now, documents stolen from the DNC server have been leaked via a hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 and via WikiLeaks.
While many have already contested the persona of Guccifer 2.0 and called him only a sockpuppet for the real hackers behind the attacks, WikiLeaks has shown interest in leaking the documents, with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange showing public animosity against the Democrats and their candidate Hillary Clinton.
Just yesterday, Assange offered a $20,000 reward for clues about the mysterious murder of a DNC staffer, which he says was a "politically-motivated assassination," and related to the DNC hack.