Obama admits underestimating impact of hacking

The remark was followed by an intelligence report on Russian meddling in the US presidential vote

President Barack Obama admitted on Sunday that he “underestimated” the impact misinformation and hacking could have on democracies, a remark that follows an intelligence report on Russian meddling in the US presidential vote. In a pre-taped interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Obama denied underestimating Russian President Vladimir Putin, who US intelligence agencies say ordered a campaign of hacking, leaking and media manipulation aimed at undermining the presidential campaign of the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boosting Republican Donald Trump. 

“But I think that I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation for cyber hacking and so forth to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating,” Obama said.