Russian hackers are suspected of being behind a cyber attack on The New York Times and other media outlets.
Corbis via Getty Images
The FBI suspects cybersecurity breaches targeting reporters at The New York Times and other news agencies were carried out by hackers working for Russian intelligence, CNN reported Monday.
"Investigators so far believe that Russian intelligence is likely behind the attacks and that Russian hackers are targeting news organizations as part of a broader series of hacks that also have focused on Democratic Party organizations, the officials said," CNN said.
In a follow-up report, The New York Times reported late Monday said its Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyberattack earlier this month. The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said in its report that there was no evidence that hackers succeeded in penetrating the newspaper's cyber defenses.
"We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools," said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for The Times. "We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised."
The FBI also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The security breach is the latest in a recent wave of cyberattacks suspected of originating overseas. News of the hack attempt comes amid allegations that hackers working for the Russian government broke into the Democratic National Committee's computer network, gaining access to emails and chat transcripts -- and opposition research on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
US-based news agencies have become popular targets for hack attempts in recent years. In 2013, the Washington Post reported that its servers had been breached for the second time in three years, giving hackers access to employee usernames and passwords.