For months or perhaps even years, it is believed by federal security experts that hackers sponsored by the Russian government have had sustained access to the U.S. State Department network.
Through the use of ‘spear phishing’ schemes, the hackers used fake or compromised State email addresses to pose as official personnel, according to CNN. They then duped employees into granting them access to certain systems which were then used to exploit other systems.
Forensics experts believe that the hackers left a trail of evidence which points to similar access to non-sensitive White House networks, begging the question about the degree of security being employed by the federal government.
Though the access did not expose top secret information, it almost certainly made information concerning the president’s security details and travel arrangements available to the Russian government.
The serial nature of the security breach by a foreign government comes amid the ongoing tension between the U.S. and Russia over the chess game in Ukraine which poses to entirely unravel US-Russo relations.
What’s more, it underscores the gross inadequacy of cybersecurity policies in place at the highest levels in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server is only the latest example.
