Attempted theft of Bredesen campaign funds triggers concern over hacking

Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen’s U.S. Senate campaign has informed the FBI of fears it has been hacked,  reports the Associated Press.

In a letter dated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, campaign lawyer Robert E. Cooper Jr. wrote that Bredesen’s aides became suspicious when someone pretending to be the campaign’s media buyer asked for money to be wired to an international account.

The letter says the person used an email address nearly identical to the actual media buyer’s and knew about an upcoming TV campaign and its proposed dates. Cooper says the campaign hired a cyber-security firm that found the impostor emails were registered through an Arizona-based registrar.

“Thanks to alert action by campaign management, no funds were diverted,” the letter states. “However, due to the fact that the impostors knew the media buy was imminent, we are concerned that there has been an unauthorized intrusion into the extended campaign organization.”

See also the Nashville Post report, which includes this:

Blackburn’s campaign said news of Bredesen’s possible hacking was upsetting.

“Cyber security is a serious issue, and we must do more to prevent bad actors from being able to access private information,” spokesperson Andrea Bozek said.