The White House Wednesday refused to publicly attribute the hacking of its computer network to hackers affiliated with the Russian government, despite U.S. officials privately putting the blame on Moscow.
“It’s not in our best interest to identify the entity that may be responsible” for the cyber intrusion, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.
According to various media reports, U.S. officials were able to trace the cyber activity from six months ago to hackers working for the Russian government. The officials said the hackers gained access to the president’s private schedule.
Earnest refused to confirm those details from behind the podium Wednesday.
“The White House detected some activity of concern on the White House computer network,” Earnest said. “We took appropriate steps to address that concern, and we did so mindful of the fact that our computer network here is going to continue to be a target.”
Earnest said the White House’s classified network was never compromised during the hack.
The White House’s strategy now is far different from the approach it took when publicly accusing North Korea of facilitating the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment last year.
