Russian hackers hit Democratic party servers, get Trump files

[WASHINGTON] Hackers linked to the Russian government gained access to servers at the Democratic National Committee, the party confirmed Tuesday.

Some hackers had access to the DNC servers for up to a year and secured the party's full database of opposition research on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the hack.

"The security of our system is critical to our operation and to the confidence of the campaigns and state parties we work with," said DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Ms Wasserman Schultz, a Florida representative, said that once the DNC had discovered the breach, it "treated this like the serious incident it is" and engaged a cybersecurity firm.

"Our team moved as quickly as possible to kick out the intruders and secure our network," she said.

The Post said the intruders were able to read email and chat traffic, in addition to the so-called "oppo" files on Mr Trump. Hackers have also targeted the Trump and Clinton presidential campaigns but no details were available on the intrusions, according to the Post.

BLOOMBERG