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Biosecurity News in Brief
White House Computer Network Hacked by Cyber AttackersBy Kunal Rambhia, November 10, 2008 On November 6, 2008, the Financial Times reported that cyber attackers broke into the White House network several times and stole government emails. The breaches were quickly patched and the hackers only had access to unclassified information.1 The recent attack was detected by the National Cyber Intelligence Joint Task Force, which was established in 2007. In 2007, the Pentagon’s network was breached by hackers who forced the network to be closed for several days. Although the recent attack on the White House network can be traced to China, it is extremely difficult to identify the perpetrators. U.S. officials, however, liken this attack to other attempts at espionage by China’s government. In related news, Newsweek reported on November 6 that computers belonging to the McCain and Obama campaigns were victims of cyber attacks during the summer. Both campaigns worked with the FBI and were told that a foreign entity—likely from Russia or China—was responsible for the attacks and that significant amounts of information were taken.2 References
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