Congressional Budget Office hacked, potential exposing financial resea

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed it was hacked Thursday, potentially exposing key financial research to malicious actors.

The Washington Post first reported the breach appeared to come from a foreign actor. The CBO told Fox News Digital it had taken “immediate action” to contain the threat and strengthen its systems.

“The Congressional Budget Office has identified the security incident, has taken immediate action to contain it, and has implemented additional monitoring and new security controls to further protect the agency’s systems going forward,” the office said in a statement.

“The incident is being investigated and work for the Congress continues. Like other government agencies and private sector entities, CBO occasionally faces threats to its network and continually monitors to address those threats.”

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The CBO provides Congress with nonpartisan analysis of the federal budget, economic outlook and cost of legislation. If internal communications, cost estimates or draft models were accessed, experts say a foreign actor could gain insight into congressional deliberations, the timing of bill releases or fiscal vulnerabilities — information that could be used to anticipate U.S. policy moves, craft disinformation or exert strategic influence.

“The CBO sits at the center of federal legislative decision-making as every major policy, including taxation, defense spending, and entitlement programs, runs through their analysis before it can move toward law. If an adversary gets inside the CBO network, they can gain strategic foresight into how the U.S. government will make economic or national security decisions before the public or even Congress…