A technology support contractor who worked at the Democratic National Committee was concerned an FBI agent who called to tell the organization it had been hacked was an impostor.
That revelation is among the many in an extensive New York Times investigation published Tuesday about a Russian cyberattack operation. Intelligence officials believe it started as an effort to gather information and then changed into a push to harm Democrat Hillary Clinton, the newspaper reported.
The report, which drew many parallels to the Watergate bugging scandal, details the hackers' methods for gaining access to emails of Democratic operatives and highlights the missed opportunities to stem the attacks' ramifications. The emails, obtained from both the DNC and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were heavily reported on this summer in the heat of the presidential election after they were leaked by Wikileaks.
The Times report also said a Clinton campaign aide inadvertently told Podesta a phishing email about changing his password was legitimate. He meant to type illegitimate, but a typo led to him falling victim to the attack.