US military's joint staff hacked as officials point the finger at Russia

Unclassified email access for about 2,500 civilian and uniformed personnel severely restricted since late July but rest of Pentagon appears unaffected

Russia is the leading suspect in a sophisticated cyber-attack on the unclassified email network of the US military's joint staff that prompted the Pentagon last month to restrict access to portions of that network, US officials said on Thursday.

Early reports firmly linked Russia to the attack, said one official, who declined to be named since the investigation was ongoing.