MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The CBS News broadcaster reported Thursday citing Dempsey's interview that in August 2015 Russian hackers had attacked and seized control of Joint Staff's email system used by some 3,500 people within only an hour.
The hackers had succeeded to seize the passwords and electronic signatures used by hundreds of senior officers, including Dempsey himself, the broadcaster added.
According to the CBS News, the only way to end the intrusion was to take the whole network down.
The news come as earlier in 2016 a number of US officials and media outlets accused Moscow for alleged interference in the US policy and the presidential election through different hacking activities. Russia has called the allegations absurd and an attempt to distract US citizens from domestic issues.