FBI failed to warn officials about Russian hacker

Despite knowing what he was up to

The FBI failed to notify scores of US officials that a Russian hacker was trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that Kremlin hackers were after them.

According to Associated Press, out of 80 interviews with Americans targeted by a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage group, only two were warned by the FBI. Even senior policymakers discovered they were targets only when  reporters told them.

Philip Reiner, a former senior director at the National Security Council, was stunned to know that he was targeted by Russian hackers in 2015.

The FBI declined to discuss its investigation into Fancy Bear’s spying campaign, but did provide a statement that said in part: “The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information.”

However the FBI had known for more than a year the details of Fancy Bear’s attempts to break into Gmail inboxes. A senior FBI official said that the sheer number of attempted hacks overwhelmed the bureau.

“It’s a matter of triaging to the best of our ability the volume of the targets who are out there”, he said.

AP did its own investigation and found more than 500 US-based people or groups were affected and reached out to more than 190 of them, interviewing nearly 80 about their experiences.

Most were retired, but about one quarter were still in government or held security clearances at the time they were targeted.

Only two told the AP they learned of the hacking attempts on their personal Gmail accounts from the FBI. A few more were contacted by the FBI after their emails were published in the torrent of leaks that coursed through last year’s electoral contest. But to this day, some leak victims have not heard from the bureau at all.