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Clinton and Trump clash over Russian hacking

Both candidates said cyber attacks are a top challenge for the next president. But that’s about all they agree on in cyber warfare.

Hillary Clinton made clear she believes that Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee, which is what the U.S. intelligence community has privately concluded with “high confidence.” The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which investigated the breach, also determined that Russian government hackers penetrated the DNC.

Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, is going against the judgment of the U.S. intelligence community and private researchers in asserting that it’s unclear who hacked the DNC, as well as other political organizations.

Interestingly Clinton suggested she would take a strong response against Moscow for its series of hacks into U.S. companies—going farther perhaps than the Obama administration has been willing to go so far.

The administration has not been willing to call out Russia for its hacks into government agencies and political organizations—its apparent campaign of trying to undermine the rattle the U.S. government and public. “We will defend the citizens of our country,” Clinton said. “The Russians have to understand that.”

Real-time fact checking and analysis of the first presidential debate
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