Last Updated Jan 2, 2017 6:59 PM EST
U. S. government officials have been notified of new cases of attempted or potentially successful cyber intrusions, CBS News has learned.
Officials would not go into specifics or reveal the number of new cases. But the revelation raises concerns that Russian cyberattacks have been more extensive than originally thought. Since the U. S released a report on election-related cyberattacks on Thursday, a government official said more cases have come to light, CBS News\u2019 Justice and Homeland Security correspondent Jeff Pegues reports.
U. S. officials do not often release the details of their investigations — but they did Thursday. The release was part of an ongoing effort to pu…
The intelligence information made public last week revealed some of the tools and infrastructure allegedly used by Russian hacking units. Those signatures were flagged over the weekend after officials connected with Vermont\u2019s electric grid confirmed that malware code used in operation \u201cGrizzly Steppe\u201d was found on a Burlington Electric Department laptop.
A team of Department of Homeland Security analysts are working to determine if Russian hackers successfully breached Vermont\u2019s system. But so far, investigators have not been able to determine the intent behind the Vermont incident , and there are no indications the power grid is compromised.
\u201cWhile our analysis continues, we currently have no information that indicates that the power grid was penetrated in this cyber incident,\u201d said Todd Breasseale, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.
Monday\u2019s revelation about new cases of attempted or potentially successful cyber intrusions came just days after the Obama administration announced a series of actions in response to what the White House called \u201cthe Russian government\u2019s aggressive harassment of U. S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U. S. election.\u201d In addition to sanctions announced on Thursday, 35 Russian diplomats have been expelled from the United States .
While President Obama and most congressional Republicans have denounced Russia for its alleged election interference, President-elect Donald Trump has been reluctant to do so , even after FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper backed the CIA\u2019s judgment that Russia interfered. The CIA said in December it has high confidence that Russians tried to influence the election and that they favored Mr. Trump.
\u201cI know a lot about hacking,\u201d Mr. Trump said before his New Years Eve party at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night. \u201cAnd hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And also — I know things that other people don\u2019t know — and so they cannot be sure of the situation.\u201d
Mr. Trump promised new information on Tuesday or Wednesday. But Sean Spicer, the Trump transition\u2019s spokesman, seemed to walk that back.
\u201cWell it\u2019s not a question of necessarily revealing, remember the president-elect is privy to a lot of classified information, intelligence reports, he gets briefed by his national security team on a daily basis,\u201d Spicer said, speaking on CNN.
It is unclear, however, where Mr. Trump or his national security team are getting their intelligence reports. All U. S. intelligence agencies are in agreement that the Russian government with the blessing of Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated \u201caggressive\u201d cyberattacks prior to and during the U. S. election.<\/p>\n

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