The White House has responded to allegations by a right wing website that reported on a cyber attack from Chinese hackers. The White House has confirmed that it was, in fact, targeted by these hackers but the Obama Administration has insisted that no data was taken and classified systems were not compromised.
The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, first reported that Chinese hackers had attacked a computer system in the White House Military Office, but an unnamed official said that the hack “affected an unclassified network, was ‘isolated’ and that there was no evidence that any data had been stolen.”
The hack allegedly attempted to use “spear phishing,” where the attacker sends an email to a certain target with familiar phrases hoping the recipient will follow links or download attachments that will unlock the hacker’s malware.
The unnamed White House official was not asked for comment, but reached out to Politico to confirm that none of the White House’s secure, classified computer systems were affected and there was no attempted breach of a classified system. So, I guess those nuclear codes are still safe.
This isn’t the Washington Free Beacon‘s first attempt to cast President Obama in a bad light, identifying weaknesses in his natioanl security or defense. According to the site, the Chinese hack attempt “highlights a failure of the Obama administration to press China on its persistent cyberattacks.”
The website previously reported that a Russian nuclear attack submarine was patrolling waters near the U.S., but Navy officials denied this.
Source: Washington Free Beacon and Politico via Betabeat
Image Credit: Bellona
