We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. UPDATE: The Democratic National Committee said the hacking attempt was actually part of a "simulated phishing test." "The test, which mimicked several attributes of actual attacks on the Democratic party's voter file, was not authorized by the DNC, VoteBuilder nor any of our vendors," according to a statement from Bob Lord, the DNC's chief security officer. "There are constant attempts to hack the DNC and our Democratic infrastructure, and while we are extremely relieved that this wasn't an attempted intrusion by a foreign adversary, this incident is further proof that we need to continue to be vigilant in light of potential attacks," he added. Original story: The Democratic National Committee is once again the target of hackers, and this time they're going after the organization's voter database. Hackers sought to break into the DNC database on Monday, according to mobile security provider Lookout. The firm's AI-powered software discovered a phishing site that tried to spoof the login page to a Democratic Party online database called VoteBuilder, which holds information on registered voters and volunteers. Whoever created the phishing site was probably trying to trick Democratic Party officials into visiting it. Any information typed into the login page, such as passwords, would've been secretly logged and handed over to the hackers. Lookout's chief strategy officer Aaron Cockerill told PCMag that the company detected the phishing site about 30 minutes after it went live. It then notified the DNC and alerted the domain's hosting provider, Digital Ocean, which acted quickly to take down the site. At this point, Lookout doesn't know who might have been behind the hacking attempt, but Cockerill said its working with the DNC and Digital Ocean to try and uncover details about the mysterious attacker. Cockerill added that every day Lookout detects thousands of phishing sites, many of which try to spoof major brands such as Google, Apple and Microsoft. Links to these phishing sites are often circulated over mobile messaging apps, which can put the security firm's customers at risk. To tackle the threat, Lookout developed an AI system that scans for suspected phishing sites across web hosting providers that hackers tend to use. On Monday evening, the system flagged an unusual phishing site that tried to spoof a brand the security firm had never encountered before: VoteBuilder, which is run by NGP VAN, a technology provider to the Democratic Party. The URL to the phishing site looked very similar to the actual VoteBuilder domain, which could've fooled unsuspecting victims, Cockerill said. To prevent detection, the phishing site was also designed to remain online for a short span of time, possibly 48 hours. Fortunately, Lookout and Digital Ocean moved quickly to take the site down. As a result, "likely no one was exposed to it," Cockerill said. So far, the DNC hasn't publicly commented on the hacking attempt. But according to CNN, Democratic officials have no reason to believe the voter database was breached. Nevertheless, they contacted the FBI about the incident. In 2016, the DNC was the target of a high-profile breach that's been blamed on Russian government-sponsored cyberspies who were attempting to influence the presidential election. The attackers stole troves of confidential information, including opposition research on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump along with sensitive emails from DNC officials that were later leaked online. This new attempt to breach the DNC comes as Microsoft has also detected hackers creating phishing sites to target US think tanks and political groups. On Monday, the company said these phishing efforts were linked to a notorious Russian state-sponsored hacking group called Fancy Bear or APT 28. All six phishing domains Microsoft uncovered have been shut down. Still, US officials are warning that Russian-sponsored hackers may very well try to disrupt the midterm elections in November. To protect yourself from phishing attacks, Lookout's Cockerill recommends you never click on an internet link in an email or mobile message unless you know the person who sent it. When possible, you should also look at the full URL to the internet link, which can often reveal where the link really leads to. "Phishing is rampant outside of corporate email," he added. "They (the attackers) are frequently using messaging platforms like SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Signal, and other tools." Lookout also has a mobile security app you can download. Editor's note: This story has been updated with further comment from Lookout.

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