Democrats Victim Of Another Cyber Attack; Suspicion On Russians

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee confirmed Friday that it has been the latest subject of a cyberattack, further raising suspicions and stoking fears that Russia may be coordinating attacks to influence U.S. elections.

A DCCC statement confirmed the "cybersecurity incident," saying the exact source of it was unknown. Reuters reported that the attack was similar to the one against the Democratic National Committee, in which troves of emails were made public that led to the ouster of party chair Debbie Wassermann-Schultz shortly before the Democratic convention began.

Sources familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that Russian government hackers were behind the new hack.

"The DCCC can confirm that we have been the target of a cybersecurity incident," the DCCC statement said. "Upon discovering the issue, we immediately took action and engaged with CrowdStrike, a leading forensic investigator, to assist us in addressing this incident. The investigation is ongoing."

The DCCC hack may have involved the creation of a fake donation website that appeared to be similar to the committee's site, a source told the Post. It is unclear whether the motive was to get donor data or the donations themselves.

A previous attack on the DNC resulted in the release of thousands of emails, some of which showed a very real bias against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in his race against Hillary Clinton. It shifted the narrative heading into the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Clinton on Thursday accepted the presidential nomination.

The Russian government orchestrating the cyberattacks paints a disturbing picture — one of an American rival making a coordinated play to sway presidential elections, particularly in an effort to secure the White House for Donald Trump.

Those fears came to a head Wednesday, when Trump implored Russians to hack Hillary Clinton's State Department emails and make them public. Trump later said he was just "being sarcastic."

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