Russia-Backed Hackers Suspected of Attacking White House Computers; Expert Believes Breach 'Sophisticated'

Hackers allegedly working for the Russian government had breached some computer networks in the White House in the recent weeks. According to reports, White House officials who spoke anonymously had revealed the hacking had resulted in temporary service disruptions in recent weeks as computer security teams attempt to control the situation.

U.S. authorities reportedly said the hackers did not cause any damage to the White House systems and as far as they know, there was no evidence that the classified computer networks were hacked. In a Washington Post report, one White House official claimed measures were taken to evaluate the threat and this had caused temporary disruption in some services.

Reports said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency and the Secret Service are working together in the ongoing investigation. Officials in the White House remain silent on who was behind the hacking and if any data was stolen. The anonymous official reported that there are "a variety of actors" who will find White House computer systems as "attractive targets" to access sensitive data. Other reports revealed that a U.S. ally had informed officials about the breach.

Previous reports of security firms identified Russian hackers thought to be employed by Moscow in cyber-espionage campaigns. The Russian hackers are believed to have attacked NATO, U.S. defence contractors and the Ukraine government. Speculations have emerged regarding the attack of White House systems as consistent with other identified state-sponsored campaigns.

Sources of the Washington Post said officials were alerted about the breach about two or three weeks ago. Some of the staff was asked to change their system passwords while as intranet and VPN access were temporarily unavailable.

In 2008, the U.S. government created U.S. Cyber Command in response to the breach of military computer networks which was blamed on Russian intelligence services. Reports said Cyber Command was tasked to protect and secure government and private sector computer networks in the U.S.

In a WCNC report, Gerry Grealish of cloud security service Perspecsys said hackers sponsored by foreign governments are "very real threats" to IT networks. He believes the cyber attack in the White House is more sophisticated and aggressive. He said hackers may be better funded and the attack could have come from several sources.