FBI investigating Russian hack of New York Times reporters, others

The FBI declined to comment, and the Times did not immediately respond to questions about the report’s veracity.

Officials said news organizations are a key target for hackers because they can offer valuable information regarding reporter contacts in the government and unpublished reports containing sensitive information.

If confirmed, the breach at the Times would not be the first time foreign hackers infiltrated a news organisation: media are frequently targeted in an order to glean insights into USA policies or to spy on journalists.

“Like most news organizations we are vigilant about guarding against attempts to hack into our systems”, said New York Times Co. spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.

Suspected Russian hackers have broken into the computers of New York Times journalists, among other targets in United States media, CNN reported Tuesday citing unnamed U.S. officials. “We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised”, the Times said in a statement on Tuesday evening. US officials said the publication has enlisted security investigators to work with federal national security officers to evaluate the damage of the breach.

The apparent Russian hacking campaign against USA organizations became a major issue in the presidential campaign after what are believed to be Russian hackers broke into the computers of the Democratic National Committee.

The Democratic National Committee, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the party’s congressional fundraising committee have all been affected.

The reported hacking comes as serious questions has been raised about possible Russian influence in this year’s USA presidential elections. And, he said, the US intelligence community is now “at war” with Russian Federation, conducting operations every hour of every day against Russian Federation and other adversaries.