New Insight Into Hill Cyber Hacking
The latest issue of National Journal magazine features an explosive cover story about how the Chinese -- or someone -- hacked into congressional computers in 2006 and what it will take to keep out the next electronic invader. The article by staff writer Shane Harris cites details from a confidential briefing on the investigation into the incident prepared by the House of Representatives' Information Systems Security Office, which monitors the computers of all members, staffers, and committee offices.
The security office determined that eight members' offices were affected; in most of the offices, the virus had invaded only one machine, but in some offices, it hit multiple computers. It also struck seven committee offices, including Commerce; Transportation and Infrastructure; Homeland Security; and Ways and Means; plus the Commission on China, which monitors human rights and laws in China. Most of the committee offices had one or two infected computers. In the International Relations Committee (now the Foreign Affairs Committee) office, however, the virus had compromised 25 computers and one server, according to the article.
Read the full story here and watch a multimedia slideshow companion to the piece here.
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