Nato secrets hacked by group that targeted Clinton campaign: Report

Weeks before the Democratic convention was hit by the leak of 20,000 e-mails released through WikiLeaks, the secrets of a top NATO general, billionaire George Soros' philanthropy and a Chicago-based Clinton campaign volunteer started appearing on a little-known website, Bloomberg reported.

According to security experts, the site, DCLeaks.com, revealed telltale signs of the same Russian intelligence outfit that targeted the Democratic political organisations.

The e-mails and documents posted to the DCLeaks site in early June suggested that  hackers might have a broader agenda than influencing the US presidential  election, one that ranged from the Obama administration's policy toward Russia to disclosures about the hidden levers of political power in Washington.

It also meant that hackers might have much more to distribute at will. The subjects of the DCLeaks site included a former ranking intelligence official who now worked for a major defence contractor, and a retired army officer whose wife served on nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. Some of the emails dated back to years.

According to spokeswoman Laura Silber of the Open Society Foundations, the Soros group, which reported the breach to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,  an investigation by a security firm revealed that the intrusion was limited to an intranet system used by board members.