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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Was a Republican National Committee technology provider hacked?

Monday, July 12, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

The Republican National Committee and SYNNEX Corp., one of its technology providers, confirmed on July 6, 2021, that “outside actors” tried to access RNC data.

RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters said that no data was obtained, but they blocked all access from “SYNNEX accounts to our cloud environment,” according to statement issued on Twitter by a party spokesperson.

Bloomberg News, citing two unidentified sources, reported that the hackers were part of Cozy Bear, also known as APT 29, a group associated with Russia’s foreign intelligence service. A Russian government spokesperson denied official involvement in the attack.

The attempted attack happened within days of the largest ransomware attack on record by Russian cybercriminals, originating in a Florida software company. It is unclear whether the two attacks are related.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Danielle Alvarez Tweet: Statement by RNC chief of staff

SYNNEX SYNNEX responds to recent cybersecurity attacks and media mentions

Bloomberg Russia ‘Cozy Bear’ breached GOP as ransomware attack hit

New York Times Attempted hack of RNC and Russian ransomware attack test Biden

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.