An unnamed Obama administration official, quoted in local press reports, claimed on Monday that the White House network, targeted by the “spear-phishing” attack, did not contain classified data and that no information was apparently stolen.
The remarks by the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, came in reaction to a Sunday report in a rightist Washington publication the Washington Free Beacon.
The report claimed that Chinese hackers “broke into one of the US government’s most sensitive computer networks, breaching a system used by the White House Military Office for nuclear commands.”
The Washington Free Beacon, which commonly reflects the views of conservative Republicans in American political circles, said it was quoting “defense and intelligence officials familiar with the [cyber hacking] incident.”
"In this instance the attack was identified, the system was isolated, and there is no indication whatsoever that any exfiltration of data took place,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying. “Moreover, there was never any impact or attempted breach of any classified system."
American intelligence authorities have persistently expressed growing concerns about what they claim is China-based cyber attacks against US government agencies, including the Defense Department.
In November 2011, top US intelligence officials publicly blamed China for systematically stealing American high-tech data through cyber attacks.
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