U.S. Air Force/Technical Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo
United States Cyber Command.
The hackers gained "access to sensitive information such as real-time non-public details of the president's schedule."
A phishing-style attack allowed Russian hackers to access a State Department computer network, which in turn allowed access to the White House's system. The hackers were working for the Russian government, but did not succeed in accessing any classified networks, according to the CNN report.
Even so, non-classified networks can contain sensitive information that the White House might not necessarily want in the hands of a rival government. And it's a sign that even high-level US government systems are far from impervious to outside attacks.
The attack stemmed from a nearly year-long breach of the US State Department's computer systems that investigators described as the "worst ever" against a US federal agency target, according to a March CNN report. Those ongoing problems with State's computer networks has apparently now impacted the White House as well.
On CNN, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes explained that federal staffers have previously been encouraged to guard even nonclassified information being passed through government systems because of hacking concerns.
"If you're going to do something that is classified you have to do it on one email system and on phone system, and act as if information could be compromised if it's not on the classified system," he said. Rhodes said the hackers did not access classified information, even though the government views unclassified information as "sensitive."
Rhodes wouldn't confirm or deny that Russian hackers were responsible for the reported White House breach.
"It's fair to say ... Russia has been active in the cyber space and in the espionage space," Rhodes told CNN.