Obama orders review of Russian interference in US election

US President Barack Obama, in one of his last presidential instructions, has ordered intelligence agencies to probe cyber-attacks and other interference into the recently concluded presidential, said homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco.

Obama has ordered the investigation to be completed before he leaves office later next month.

"The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process ... and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress," Monaco said during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Monaco said that cyber-attacks during presidential campaigns is not a new phenomenon, with attacks by China having been recorded, however she said that this year’s attacks could potentially have crossed a new threshold.

Russia was formally accused by the US government of having hacked the Democratic Party. Wikileaks published a number of emails with many believing Russia to be the source.