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Sophisticated hackers infiltrated the computer systems of both Barack Obama and John McCain during the US presidential campaign and stole a "serious amount of files" in what appears to have been an intelligence-gathering operation by Russia or China, it has emerged.

Upon discovering what they thought was a computer virus last summer, the Obama campaign were visited by agents from the FBI and Secret Service and told that their systems had, in fact, been hacked. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system," an FBI agent was quoted as saying, by the American Newsweek magazine.

According to the report, the secret service told the Obama campaign that Mr McCain had also been targeted by a sophisticated campaign of hacking. "Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese," the magazine said, adding that the FBI had assured Mr Obama that the attack had not been carried out by his political opponents.

Hackers tap in to Obamamania

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The hack, which was ended by internet security teams hired by both campaigns, came to light hours after President Bush gave a speech voicing fears that enemies of the US could be planning to cause a national security crisis or a terrorist attack during the transition between his administration and that of Mr Obama.

Today, Mr Obama is expected to continue at the furious pace he has set following last Tuesday's election victory as he holds a summit with economic experts, and makes his first public appearance for 48 hours since being elected president when he holds a press conference in Chicago.

The economic summit, with 17 experts of leaders of business, government and academia along with Vice-President-elect Joe Biden, is a further indication that boosting the United States' ailing economy will be Mr Obama's number one priority. In an interview last week, Mr Obama said that his plans for America would fail if there was a "meltdown in the banking system".

Those at the meeting planned for today include former presidential Cabinet officials and executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner, Google and the Hyatt hotel company. Investor Warren Buffett was participating by telephone. Exit polls show that the economy is far and away the top issue for American voters.

Yesterday, as well as holding telephone talks with President Sarkozy of France, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and Gordon Brown, Mr Obama completed the anticipated appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief-of-Staff, while campaign strategist David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, an aide, are being lined up for roles as senior presidential advisers.

On Tuesday night, Mr Obama spoke of a "steep climb" ahead and how he may not achieve all he wants in a first term. In interviews he has asked not to be judged by the traditional yardstick of his first 100 days so much as his first 1,000 days or even more.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs, who is likely to be made White House press secretary, said: "It’s important that everybody understands that this is not going to happen overnight. There has to be a realistic expectation of what can happen and how quickly."

The sober tone Mr Obama adopted in his speech on election night was intended to be the first of many signals that some of the promises he made during a 21-month election campaign may be difficult to fulfil quickly.

His first task is to fill more than 7,000 political appointments in the White House and his administration — 1,200 of which will need Senate confirmation — without breaching a pledge to end the "revolving door" between government and lobbyists.

He has also pledged to give tax cuts to people earning less than $200,000 (£125,000) and to raise taxes for those earning more than $250,000. He also wants a two-year $188 billion stimulus package that some Democrats on Capitol Hill regard as inadequate. His three other priorities were listed as energy independence, healthcare reform and improving America’s education system.

These will not come cheap. His plan to extend health insurance will cost $65 billion a year; he wants to pour $18 billion annually into education spending; and $150 billion over the next decade into developing cleaner energy sources. The latter will be financed by auctioning carbon-use permits, which business is likely to oppose as a tax on American jobs.

Mr Obama’s tax cuts will cost the US Treasury $80 billion a year. Analysts estimate that his total first-year spending could exceed $280 billion and that spending cuts he has proposed to offset this would fall $90 billion short. Aides say that ending the Iraq War could free up $90 billion, but Mr Obama has given no firm date on when he would withdraw US troops.

A plunge of 900 points in the Dow Jones index since Wednesday has underlined how his election has failed to halt the tumult on markets and that a deep recession could constrain his spending plans even more.

After promising that a "new dawn of American leadership is at hand", there will be close attention paid to early decisions over the future of the Guantanamo Bay camp for terror suspects, as well as how he responds to military advice on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Speaking yesterday, President Bush said he would ask government officials to brief the Obama team this week "on ongoing policy issues". He added: "I look forward to discussing those issues with the president-elect early next week." Mr Obama will travel to Washington to meet President Bush on Monday.

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