Following the many data breaches that have hit U.S. retailers, financial institutions and even the government, the White House has also confirmed that an unclassified computer network used by President’s Obama’s senior staff had been breached by hackers, The New York Times reports. However, it’s not clear why hackers attacked the White House, or at least such details have not been divulged yet.
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The administration said the attack “did not appear to be aimed at destruction of either data or hardware, or to take over other systems at the White House.”
Apparently, hackers were simply probing and mapping the unclassified White House systems. Recently, a similar report suggested that hackers who hit JPMorgan and other banks may have been looking for information about the security measures used by these financial institutions for future attacks.
It’s not clear who attacked the White House’s computers, and whether these hacks are in any way related to the many data breaches reported over the course of the year.
The Times also says that the administration took immediate action to defend its systems, action that resulted in temporary system outages.
