US accuses Russia of being behind cyber attacks on American political organisations aimed at interfering with elections
Government claims 'only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorised these activities' after Democrat emails hacked
THE US has formally accused Russia of being behind cyber attacks on political groups aimed at interfering with the upcoming elections.
Democrat Hillary Clinton is set to face off against Republican Donald Trump on 8 November, with the winner taking control of the White House.
But the emails of Democratic Party organisations have been hacked in the last few months as the presidential elections approach.
US officials added that "scanning and probing" attempts on "election-related" systems came from servers operated by a Russian company.
And the Department of Homeland Security said the attacks bore all the hallmarks of Russian state-sponsored cyber warfare.
A US government statement said: “The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organisations.
“The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts.
“These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.
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“Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there.
“We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorised these activities.”
The condemnation comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow.
After facing off over Ukraine, tensions over Syria have reached boiling point, with US Secretary of State John Kerry calling for a war crimes probe into Russia’s actions in the war-torn country.
And with NATO troops massing in eastern Europe and Russian aircraft and submarine encroaching on Western territory, the posturing has even led to fears of an all-out war between the nuclear armed nations.
Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets this week predicted “direct military confrontation” with the West, comparing the stalemate in Syria to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
And both governments are now ramping up the rhetoric.
US secretary of defence Ash Carter aid the Pentagon was reviewing its “nuclear playbook” – investing in improving the country’s atomic arsenal to ensure against “terrible attacks” by Moscow.
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