Presidential campaigns spied on by foreign hackers with “a variety of motivations”

National Intelligence Director James Clapper said that the campaigns of all the candidates for president are being spied on by foreign hackers with “a variety of motivations.”

Clapper revealed the hacking effort in a talk to a conference organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center, in Washington D.C.

NBC News quotes Clapper to say that the acts of espionage against the campaigns may only just be getting started. “As the campaigns intensify we’ll probably have more of it,” Clapper noted.

The hackers breaking into the candidates’ networks include foreign governments seeking early information on policy thinking, or hackers with sabotage in mind. Clapper’s office recently released information about intrusions by foreign intelligence services into the campaigns for president back in 2008.

Clapper’s office emphasized that the risk to the campaigns was real. “We’re aware that campaigns and related organizations and individuals are targeted by actors with a variety of motivations — from philosophical differences to espionage — and capabilities — from defacements to intrusions,” Clapper’s spokesman Brian Hale said in a statement.

One hacking group not hiding its intentions is the cyber-anarchist group Anonymous, which has urged its supporters to attack the Web operations of Donald Trump.

The group said it was launching a “total war” against Trump, and a masked figure appeared on YouTube and claiming to speak for Anonymous, said: “Dear Donald Trump, we have been watching you for a long time and what we see is deeply disturbing.”

The National Intelligence Agency recently said that in 2008 it helped the two nominees — Barack Obama and John McCain — track and deal with cyber-intrusions during their campaigns for president. A document describing the extent of those operations was issued by Mr Clapper’s officer earlier this month.

Eight years ago, foreign intelligence services “met with campaign contacts and staff, used human source networks for policy insights, exploited technology to get otherwise sensitive data, engaged in perception management to influence policy,” the document said. “This exceeded traditional lobbying and public diplomacy.”

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20160519-presidential-campaigns-spied-on-by-foreign-hackers-with-a-variety-of-motivations