Custom Search

Friday, June 14, 2013

CBS News Confirms Sharyl Attkisson's Computer Breached Multiple Times

By Susan Duclos


Flashback- CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson  revealed in May that her personal and work computers had been hacked and she was working with investigators to discover the source of the breaches.

Via Huffington Post at the time:

"There has been an issue in my house and there has been an issue with my computers that's gone on for quite a long time that we're looking into," she said.

Attkisson has long been a thorn in the side of the White House, and a hero to conservatives, for her aggressive reporting on the incident in Benghazi and on the "Fast and Furious" controversy.
In 2011, she made waves when she claimed that a White House official had screamed and cursed at her for her reporting on "Fast and Furious."

Host Chris Stigall asked if Attkisson thought that she had been the victim of a government operation, as the Associated Press and Fox News' James Rosen were. Attkisson was careful not to make any specific allegations about who had been targeting her, but she said it was possible there was a connection.

"I think there could be some relationship between these types of things and what happened to me," she said, adding that something suspicious had been happening since "at least February of 2011 and I think probably a significant period of time before that."

Now CBS has issued a statement confirming  Attkisson's computers had been breached, multiple times:

A cyber security firm hired by CBS News has determined through forensic analysis that Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was accessed by an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions late in 2012. Evidence suggests this party performed all access remotely using Attkisson’s accounts.

While no malicious code was found, forensic analysis revealed an intruder had executed commands that appeared to involve search and exfiltration of data.

This party also used sophisticated methods to remove all possible indications of unauthorized activity, and alter system times to cause further confusion.

CBS News is taking steps to identify the responsible party and their method of access.

H/T @thomassfl