WASHINGTON — The United States sees evidence of hackers, possibly working for foreign governments, snooping on the presidential candidates, the nation’s intelligence chief said Wednesday. Government officials are assisting the campaigns to tighten security as the race for the White House intensifies.
WASHINGTON — The United States sees evidence of hackers, possibly working for foreign governments, snooping on the presidential candidates, the nation’s intelligence chief said Wednesday. Government officials are assisting the campaigns to tighten security as the race for the White House intensifies.
The activity follows the pattern set in the last two presidential elections. Hacking was rampant in 2008, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were targets of Chinese cyberattacks four years later. Nevertheless, cyber experts say Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s campaign networks aren’t secure enough to eliminate the risk.
“We’ve already had some indications” of hacking, James Clapper, director of national intelligence, said Wednesday at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. He said the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were helping educate the campaigns.
Of the attacks, Clapper predicted, “we’ll probably have more.”
The revelation comes after Clapper’s office released a document this month saying foreign intelligence services tracked the 2008 presidential election cycle “like no other.” The document was in a slide show used to warn incoming Obama administration officials that their new jobs could make them prey for spies.