Democratic Party Prevents an Attempted Hack of US Voter Database

News has broken that the Democratic National Committee thwarted an attempted hack of its massive voter database, two years after Russian operatives sent the party into disarray by breaking into its computers and facilitating the release of tens of thousands of emails online amid the presidential election.

DNC security contractors notified the party Tuesday that hackers had created a fake login page to gather usernames and passwords in an effort to gain access to the Democratic Party’s voter file, a party official said. The file contains information on tens of millions of voters. The attempt was quickly thwarted by suspending the attacker’s account, and no information was compromised, the official said. The FBI was notified.

Ross Rustici, senior director, intelligence services at Cybereason, said: "The attempt on the DNC voter database is another in the long line of doppelganger domains used for spearphishing and harvesting of credentials. The data housed in these types of databases would be incredibly useful, both for domestic opposition research as well as for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes. This type of prep work by hackers is likely to continue, and it is a good sign that these websites are being detected before they appear to be in use. The efficacy of this type of credential theft is greatly mitigated by use of two-factor authentication and other identity management tools."