US officially blames Russia for political hacking attempts

President Barack Obama (R) meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (L) in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18, 2012.
Alexei Nikolsky | AFP | Getty Images
President Barack Obama (R) meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (L) in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18, 2012.

The U.S. has formally blamed Russia for recent political hacking attempts, saying that these attacks were "intended to interfere with the U.S. election process."

U.S. intelligence officials are "confident" that Russian government directed these attacks on American political organizations, the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security said in a joint statement.

"The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts," the agencies said in a Friday statement.

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