The New York Times has revealed on Tuesday that its Moscow bureau was the target of a cyberattack initiated by Russian hackers.
In a report published late on Tuesday, the New York Times has stated that its Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyberattack this month, without revealing the specific date of the incident. The publication also believes that the hackers are believed to be of Russian origin, while insisting that there is still no evidence that the hack or breach was successful.
A spokeswoman for the Times, Eileen Murphy, stated:
We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools. We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have bene breached or compromised.
In an earlier report on Tuesday, CNN had reported that several news organizations, including the Times, had been victims in breaches targeted by state-sponsored Russian hackers. The publication cited United States government officials who were supposedly briefed on the matter.
The intrusions that have targeted multiple news agencies are currently under investigation by the FBI and other security agencies in the United States, CNN reported.
Citing the US officials who are aware of the matter, the publication added:
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.
The news of cyberattacks targeting US news organizations comes during a time when similar attacks were revealed to be targeting major US political parties, most notably the Democratic National Committee.
While the Obama administration has not blamed the Russian government for the attacks publicly, the New York Times cites intelligence officials who believe with a “high confidence” that the attack on the DNC was the doing of the F.S.B and the G.R.U, two Russian intelligence agencies. The F.S.B is notably the successor to the K.G.B, while the G.R.U is the leading military intelligence unit.
Meanwhile, the attempted cyberattack on the Times isn’t the first time that the news organization has been targeted. A group of hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army had attacked the Times and other media outlets back in 2013. The same year also saw Chinese attackers breach the Times.
Image credit: Wikimedia.
