US intelligence: Foreign hackers spying on presidential campaigns

The United States sees evidence that hackers, possibly working for foreign governments, are snooping on the presidential candidates, the nation’s intelligence chief says. Government officials are working with the campaigns to tighten security as the race for the White House intensifies.

“We’ve already had some indications” of hacking, James Clapper, director of national intelligence, says at a cybersecurity event at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. He says the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are helping educate the campaigns.

Clapper predicts that “we’ll probably have more” hacking.

The activity follows a pattern set in the last two presidential elections. Hacking was rampant in 2008, according to US intelligence officials, and both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were targets of Chinese cyberattacks four years later. Despite that history, cyber experts say neither Donald Trump’s nor Hillary Clinton’s campaign networks are secure enough to eliminate the risk.

— AP