Dems hit by another hack

Hackers attack a group that raises funds for Democratic party candidates running for the House. The FBI is investigating. Also: Clinton campaign says program it used was accessed in different incident.

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Edward Moyer

July 29, 2016 3:34 p.m. PT

2 min read

The Democratic Party suffered another hack, according to two reports Friday, heightening concerns Russia might be trying to influence the US presidential election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a group that raises funds for the party's candidates for the House of Representatives, confirmed its computers had been breached, according to Reuters. It's unclear what data, if any, was taken.

The attack might be related to a breach of the Democratic National Committee's computer network, which was revealed earlier this month. The code used in the DCCC attack resembled that used by a Russian government-linked hacking group suspected in the DNC breach, according to Reuters.

The FBI is addressing both hacks in a single investigation, The Washington Post reported.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in both attacks, Reuters said.

Neither the DCCC nor the Russian Embassy immediately responded to a request for comment, and the FBI didn't immediately provide comment.

The DCCC attack, which took place between roughly June 19 and June 27, may have been designed to get hackers access to donors' computers, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took heat for seeming to encourage Russia to crack into US systems. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign manager has accused Russian hackers of releasing DNC emails to WikiLeaks to help Trump win the upcoming election. Trump's campaign didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Update, June 30 at 10:47 a.m. PT: In related news, the Clinton campaign said late Friday that one of its data programs had been breached as part of the DNC hack. As reported by CBS News, the campaign issued a statement saying that a "data program maintained by the DNC and used by our campaign...was accessed...but there is no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised." The FBI and the Justice Department are investigating. (Note: CBS News and CNET are both owned by CBS.)