RNC again denies that computer systems were breached by Kremlin-backed hackers

(Image credit: L.E. BASKOW/AFP via Getty Images)

published 6 July 2021

Hackers from the group Cozy Bear, which has ties to Russia's foreign intelligence service, breached the computer systems of the Republican National Committee last week, Bloomberg reports, citing two people familiar with the matter. The RNC denied the breach occurred.

The RNC previously issued the same denial over the weekend after reports indicated that one of their service providers, Synnex, was targeted in a massive ransomware attack allegedly carried out by a different Russian cybercriminal gang known as REvil (it's unclear if Moscow was involved in that operation). Bloomberg's updated reporting now suggests the two situations were separate, though, if the Cozy Bear hack did occur, there's no evidence that there was any coordination between the two strikes.

"Is it just coincidental timing for the Russian government to do some of the other things they're doing right now?" Charles Carmakal, a senior vice president at Mandiant, which is part of the cybersecurity company FireEye Inc., said, per Bloomberg. "Is this coordinated and planned? I have no idea. I know that both things are happening, that's just a fact, I just don't know why." Read more at Bloomberg.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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