CBS correspondent Sharyl Attkisson's concerns that her professional and personal computers had been hacked were revealed to be legitimate on Friday.
After hiring a cybersecurity firm to investigate Attkisson's (left) claims made public in May, CBS News has determined her computer was compromised by "an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions in late 2012."
Also read: Fox News 'Outraged' by Justice Department Spying on Reporter (Update)
"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," CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair said in a statement. "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 made the allegations during an appearance on Philadelphia talk radio station 1210 AM WPHT last month.
"There has been an issue in my house and there has been an issue with my computer that’s gone on for quite a long time that we’re looking into," Attkisson said.
At the time, she would not made any accusations against a specific party believed to be responsible for the digital intrusion.
Although it was made public last month that the Justice Dept. seized emails and phone records of Fox News correspondent James Rosen, CBS stressed it is not accusing the federal government of tampering with Attkisson's computers.
Last week, the Guardian and whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed a secret National Security Agency program that collections millions of U.S. telephone records each day as part of its anti-terrorism efforts.
Attkisson, CBS and investigators are still in the process of trying to identify the culprit.