Russia's Hackathon Continues, Targeting The New York Times And Other News Agencies
from the all-up-in-the...-everything dept
If this keeps up, the list of entities not hacked by Russian intelligence will be shorter than the list of those who have. [Caution: autoplay annoyance ahead.]
Hackers thought to be working for Russian intelligence have carried out a series of cyber breaches targeting reporters at the New York Times and other US news organizations, according to US officials briefed on the matter.
The New York Times has brought in investigators to "assess the damage." If anything truly damaging was obtained during the hack, there's a good chance we'll all get a chance to see it. While national security investigators are theorizing that the Russian hackers' targeting of non-government organizations is designed to give them a look at the government's inner workings without actually having to breach a government server, there's also the possibility that this hacking is more aligned with the focus of the Democratic National Committee hack: to find something potentially embarrassing and publish it for the world to see.
According to the CNN article, Clinton's campaign believes the DNC hack was politically-motivated. Hardly unsurprising, considering most Russian hacking attempts are propelled by politics. The claim that Russia wants Trump to win the election isn't an entirely outlandish theory. If so, the hacking of news agencies may be similarly motivated. The press hasn't been shy about pointing out Trump's lies and bad behavior, so it could be hackers are seeking communications pointing to an anti-Trump conspiracy.
It's likely they'll find evidence that fits this description, but it's hardly a conspiracy, no matter how theorists choose to spin it. Donald Trump is an exceptional presidential candidate -- and not in the most favorable definition of that term. While most candidates would at least pay lip service to presenting a unified front, Trump has been intentionally divisive, setting up "us vs. them" narratives that go beyond simple Republican vs. Democrat terms and deep into the party he supposedly represents.
Beyond the alleged backing of Trump, there's more to be gained than simply pointing out the media's transparent disdain for the Republican candidate. There are also leaked -- but unreleased -- documents stored on agencies' servers.
News organizations are considered top targets because they can yield valuable intelligence on reporter contacts in the government, as well as communications and unpublished works with sensitive information, US government officials believe.
It could very well be that the Russian government is seeking to provoke a cyberwar, utilizing hackers to fire its opening salvos. There's also money to be made -- on both sides -- from a variety of cybersecurity firms who will do all they can to turn high-profile hacking into a multi-decade cyber-Cold War that will provide them with plenty of lucrative contracts. So, instead of seeing these attacks as a very normal state of affairs, hyperbolic theorizing will take precedence over more measured responses.
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Filed Under: hacking, journalism, russia
Companies: ny times
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Russians?
Several week ago, Clapper came out and said that there was no evidence that would implicate the Russians re: the DNC hack.
Looks like the FBI playbook of spreading falsehoods to cover for others who are friendly to Obama and Hillary is working like a champ!
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Re: Russians?
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Re: Re: Russians?
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Re: Re: Re: Russians?
I thought that was the point - oh well.
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Re: Re: Russians?
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/08/despite-assertions-government/
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Re: Russians?
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https://www.rt.com/usa/356916-nyt-hack-cnn-report/
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Re:
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Re:
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/index.html?iref=storys
You dont go through the time, expense, and loss of life then deny involvement with the whole thing. That is not what terrorism is about.
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Re: Re: deny involvement with the whole thing
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This article is an excellent example of such.
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The claim that Russia wants Trump to win the election isn't an entirely outlandish CONSPIRACY theory. FTFY, Timmah.
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Where is the punchline?
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Why Worship Putin?
"Herr Hitler has assured me, and I believe him" -- we all know how that ended up. Obviously, Vladimir Putin, like Adolph Hitler in his time, is out for whatever he can get. He in an opportunist who continually probes for weaknesses in the Western Democracies, and exploits them when found.
Russia has a hypothetical sort of territorial claim to the American West Coast. From 1812-42, there was a Russian settlement at Fort Ross, just north of San Francisco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ross,_California
Naturally, this claim has been picked up by Russian Nationalists. Faaced with such a moral weakling as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin might very well assert a claim to California, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, and Hawaii, as well as the Camadian province of British Columbia, and the Canadian Territory of the Yukon. Putin would propose to strip the residents of this territory or their American or Canadian citizenship, and declare them to be Russian subjects, thus making Russia a superpower again.
I don't know what Putin may be blackmailing Trump with. However, it is quite likely that pressure will be applied, and Trump might very well endorse Putin's claims.
Of course, Putin is stupid, in the largest sense of the word, as Hitler was stupid in the largest sense of the word. If territorial boundaries become negotiable, China will promptly invent reasons why Siberia and Russian Central Asia have always been part of China. The Chinese will dredge up claims going back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). China has the population to occupy Siberia, and Russia no longer does. China wants to become more self-sufficient in raw materials, and less dependent on the United States. The logic leads north. All that really stops it is the rule of law.
So why on earth would Americans want to vote for Vladimir Putin for President of the United States?
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Re: Why Worship Putin?
Schizophrenia?
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-election-intelligence-commentary-idUSKCN10F1H5
http://www.reu ters.com/article/us-intelligence-nsa-commentary-idUSKCN10X01P
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Re:
'See, sensitive systems being hacked left and right, if we had our unicorn gates in place we could have spotted those hacks and stopped them before they were able to get away with any data!'
To admit, even to themselves that weaker security means more US systems hacked would be to admit that they have been dead wrong the entire time they've been pushing for weaker encryption and stockpiling exploits for their own use rather than informing companies so the vulnerabilities could be fixed, and since clearly they, the sterling Guardians of the US could never be wrong, obviously it's anyone's fault but theirs.
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There cannot be much in the way of foreign hackers at this point, when it comes to hacking government affiliated corporations.
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Shoe to Foot Two
But... but.... wouldn't that qualify as a .............
................... c o n s p i r a c y
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But, we were all promised that conspiracies are nothing more than the fantasies of deranged mouth breathers, but there above is a definite claim that our blessed politicians and their millionaire owners might actually be sitting down and conspiring together, to lie and falsify public information, in order to profit monetarily at public expense.
That's simply impossible because, as we have been told time and time again, there would obviously be too many people involved to keep this plan a secret and at least one of those people would "leak" the truth to the public and like every other conspiracy That Never Happened, the people involved would all be caught and the conspiracy would fail, if it actually existed, which it doesn't of course.
Musta bin a typo...
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