Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, and National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers released the statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on foreign cyberthreats.
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Top US intelligence officials: 'Only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized' election-related hacking
Top US intelligence officials said in a joint statement Thursday that Russia's senior-most officials were involved in hacking Democratic Party organizations in the months leading up to the presidential election.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
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US intelligence officials have blamed Russia for hacking the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, before the election.
"We assess that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized the recent election-focused data thefts and disclosures, based on the scope and sensitivity of the targets," the statement said.
The statement said Russia "poses a major threat" to the US because of its "aggressive" and "advanced" cyber program.
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"Looking forward, Russian cyber operations will likely target the United States to gather intelligence, support Russians decision-making, conduct influence operations to support Russian military and political objectives, and prepare the cyber environment for future contingencies," the statement said.
Clapper said a final report on Russian interference in the US election would be released early next week.
President-elect Donald Trump has challenged the US intelligence community's assessment of Russian involvement in election-related hacking.
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Africa may just have the lowest level of cyber threats compared to other regions
