Russian state hackers reportedly tried hacking into a Biden campaign firm

• Russian state-backed hackers tried, but failed, to breach a firm that works with the Joe Biden presidential campaign, according to a new Reuters report.
• Microsoft alerted the firm, SKDKnickerbocker, of the attempted breaches, according to the report. SKDK is a communications firm that works closely with Democratic political campaigns, including the Biden-Harris campaign.
• During the 2016 US presidential election, hackers backed by the Russian government successfully breached the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
• Special counsel Robert Mueller eventually indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for a variety of offenses related to the hacking.

Russian state-backed hackers are suspected of a series of attempted hacks on Joe Biden presidential campaign's communications firm, according to a new report from Reuters.

The firm, Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, was alerted by Microsoft that hackers working with the Russian government attempted to breach its security, the report said. One source told Reuters that the hackers were unsuccessful and unable to breach the firm.

It was unclear if the target of the attack was the Biden campaign or another SKDK client, a source told Reuters.

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US intelligence agencies have warned for years and as recently as last month that foreign governments were attempting to sway the 2020 US presidential election. In 2019, special counsel Robert Mueller said that Russia was already meddling in this election as it had in 2016, when Russian state-backed hackers successfully infiltrated the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Convention, releasing a trove of internal emails.

Though the Russian government repeatedly denied reports of interfering with US elections through hacking, Mueller's office indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers after an investigation into interference in the 2016 election.

SKDK is a communications and political consulting firm, and has been working closely with the Biden-Harris 2020 presidential campaign, and has long worked with other Democratic campaigns. The firm's managing director, Anita Dunn, is a senior adviser to the Biden campaign and served as a White House communications director for former President Barack Obama.

Microsoft has been closely monitoring election security since 2018 as part of its Defending Democracy initiative, alerting Democratic and Republican campaigns of potential hacks and working on secure voting technology.

The hackers reportedly attempted to access the firm through a variety of methods, including some like phishing that had succeeded in infiltrating the DNC in 2016. Notably, the attempts were said to be a failure this time, according to Reuters.

Representatives for Microsoft, SKDKnickerbocker, and the Biden-Harris campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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