
According to Newsweek, Barack Obama's resident technology experts discovered campaign headquarters computers had been hacked during the summer. At first they thought the invasion was a phishing attack, the type that steals passwords or credit card numbers. The FBI and the Secret Service arrived at the campaign headquarters the next day where Obama staffers were told that they had a serious problem.
“You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.”
Later it was learned that John McCain’s campaign computers were hacked in August. The FBI told both campaigns that the invaders were a foreign entity of unknown origin. It was thought that the purpose of the computer intrusion was to aid in future negotiations with whoever won the election.
There was some speculation among Obama technology staff that the intrusions may have come from China or Russia. The Obama campaign hired a security firm and successfully secured the campaign's computer system.
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