A little more than three weeks after the network said it was investigating a claim by reporter Sharyl Attkisson alleging an ongoing intrusion into her computers, the network said it has confirmed a breach on "multiple occasions" over the past year.
Here's the full statement from CBS spokesperson Sonya McNair:
“A cyber security firm hired by CBS News has determined through forensic analysis that Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was accessed by an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions late in 2012. Evidence suggests this party performed all access remotely using Attkisson’s accounts.
While no malicious code was found, forensic analysis revealed an intruder had executed commands that appeared to involve search and exfiltration of data.
This party also used sophisticated methods to remove all possible indications of unauthorized activity, and alter system times to cause further confusion.
CBS News is taking steps to identify the responsible party and their method of access.”
Attkisson told WPHT Philadelphia host Chris Stigall last month that her computers have been compromised for "quite a long time."
Attkisson stressed that did not want to make accusations "against a specific entity." But when asked, she offered comparison to the Justice Department's investigation into Fox News reporter James Rosen, a 2009 case that earned renewed scrutiny on Monday.
"I don't know details of his — I only know what I've read," Attkisson said. "But I think there could be some relationship between these types of things and what's happened to me."
The Justice Department told Business Insider that it never tried to obtain any information from Attkisson or any of her media devices.
“To our knowledge, the Justice Department has never ‘compromised’ Ms. At[t]kisson’s computers, or otherwise sought any information from or concerning any telephone, computer, or other media device she may own or use," a Justice Department spokesman said.
Attkisson, an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, has long reported on some of the issues most sensitive to the Obama administration — including the so-called "Fast and Furious" gun-walking scandal, the administration's spending on green energy, and, as of late, its response to the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year.
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