The Russian Election Hacking Case Is Getting Murkier

[Buckeye Dale]

I think the CSIC inside the beltway is just trying to be more difficult (he's a prick)

The Russian Election Hacking Case Is Getting Murkier

Cybersecurity: President Obama's decision to expel Russian diplomats for interfering with the U.S. election is starting to look like "Alice in Wonderland"-style justice: sentence first, verdict afterward. Even some liberals are starting to wonder if the evidence against Russia holds water.

Late last week, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint report that supposedly tied the Russian government into the release of hacked Democratic National Committee documents.
But it didn't provide any such evidence. Instead, it simply listed tools used to carry out the attack, and asserted that Russia must have been the ones who used them.

Then it devoted eight of the report's 13 pages to offering tips on how to prevent future cyberattacks.

The problem is that the code identified in the report is "an outdated malware developed by Ukrainians that can be downloaded online," according to the conservative news site the Daily Caller. In other words, anyone could have used it.

The story quotes WordFence CEO Mark Maunder as saying that "there is nothing in the IP data that points to Russia specifically."

Jeffrey Carr, writing for the liberal site The Intercept, also blasted the DHS/FBI report, saying that it "adds nothing to the call for evidence that the Russian government was responsible for hacking the DNC."

He goes on to say that "this entire assignment of blame against the Russian government is looking more and more like a domestic political operation run by the White House that relied heavily on questionable intelligence generated by a for-profit cybersecurity firm with a vested interest."

Liberal columnist Matt Taibbi writes that "nothing quite adds up" with the Russian hacking story and admits that, based on the little we know, it could just be "a cynical ass-covering campaign, by a Democratic Party that has seemed keen to deflect attention from its own electoral failures." Taibbi rightly complains that journalists are running with a story based on nothing more than the word of "secret assessments of intelligence agencies."

Added to these concerns is the fact that the mainstream press has been incredibly irresponsible in reporting on Russian actions during the election campaign. The Washington Post, for example, has all but retracted a bombshell story claiming that Russia conducted a sophisticated propaganda campaign to help Trump.

On Friday, the Post offered up another bombshell — that Russia had infiltrated the U.S. electricity grid using the same malware they'd used to hack into the DNC. The story generated a huge response, but it, too, turned out to be false.

A utility company in Vermont found the code on a laptop that wasn't in any way connected to the electric grid. Nor is there any evidence that Russia planted the malware on that particular laptop.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, stated emphatically over the weekend that Russian hackers were not the source of the DNC documents that his group posted in the run-up to the election.

"We have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party," Assange told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

The bottom line is that we still don't know precisely what happened or why with the DNC hack. All we do know is that Democrats — from President Obama on down — have an obvious vested interest in blaming Russia, even if there's little actual evidence to support those accusations.

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2017 8:12:38 GMT -5 Buckeye Dale said:

I think the CSIC inside the beltway is just trying to be more difficult (he's a prick)

The Russian Election Hacking Case Is Getting Murkier

Cybersecurity: President Obama's decision to expel Russian diplomats for interfering with the U.S. election is starting to look like "Alice in Wonderland"-style justice: sentence first, verdict afterward. Even some liberals are starting to wonder if the evidence against Russia holds water.

Late last week, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint report that supposedly tied the Russian government into the release of hacked Democratic National Committee documents.
But it didn't provide any such evidence. Instead, it simply listed tools used to carry out the attack, and asserted that Russia must have been the ones who used them.

Then it devoted eight of the report's 13 pages to offering tips on how to prevent future cyberattacks.

The problem is that the code identified in the report is "an outdated malware developed by Ukrainians that can be downloaded online," according to the conservative news site the Daily Caller. In other words, anyone could have used it.

The story quotes WordFence CEO Mark Maunder as saying that "there is nothing in the IP data that points to Russia specifically."

Jeffrey Carr, writing for the liberal site The Intercept, also blasted the DHS/FBI report, saying that it "adds nothing to the call for evidence that the Russian government was responsible for hacking the DNC."

He goes on to say that "this entire assignment of blame against the Russian government is looking more and more like a domestic political operation run by the White House that relied heavily on questionable intelligence generated by a for-profit cybersecurity firm with a vested interest."

Liberal columnist Matt Taibbi writes that "nothing quite adds up" with the Russian hacking story and admits that, based on the little we know, it could just be "a cynical ass-covering campaign, by a Democratic Party that has seemed keen to deflect attention from its own electoral failures." Taibbi rightly complains that journalists are running with a story based on nothing more than the word of "secret assessments of intelligence agencies."

Added to these concerns is the fact that the mainstream press has been incredibly irresponsible in reporting on Russian actions during the election campaign. The Washington Post, for example, has all but retracted a bombshell story claiming that Russia conducted a sophisticated propaganda campaign to help Trump.

On Friday, the Post offered up another bombshell — that Russia had infiltrated the U.S. electricity grid using the same malware they'd used to hack into the DNC. The story generated a huge response, but it, too, turned out to be false.

A utility company in Vermont found the code on a laptop that wasn't in any way connected to the electric grid. Nor is there any evidence that Russia planted the malware on that particular laptop.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, stated emphatically over the weekend that Russian hackers were not the source of the DNC documents that his group posted in the run-up to the election.

"We have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party," Assange told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

The bottom line is that we still don't know precisely what happened or why with the DNC hack. All we do know is that Democrats — from President Obama on down — have an obvious vested interest in blaming Russia, even if there's little actual evidence to support those accusations.

There is NO evidence against Russia, otherwise Skippy the Chickenshit Half-Breed would have brought some kind of complaint to his muslime-loving socialist cohorts in the U.N.   The fact that he has not even TRIED proves he is full of shit.
The POS motherfucker is just trying to mess things up for President Trump, but Putin is brushing him off like the gnat he is, until he can negotiate with a REAL President.

[Deleted]

It's disgusting watching our government and it's media propaganda branch continuously lie and misinform the American people. Only the dunces are buying it.

[daleko]

Jan 4, 2017 8:12:38 GMT -5 Buckeye Dale said:

But it didn't provide any such evidence. Instead, it simply listed tools used to carry out the attack, and asserted that Russia must have been the ones who used them.

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

[Walter]

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

Jan 4, 2017 8:12:38 GMT -5 Buckeye Dale said:

But it didn't provide any such evidence. Instead, it simply listed tools used to carry out the attack, and asserted that Russia must have been the ones who used them.

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

What I don't get in all this is why Trump is picking an unnecessary fight with the intelligence community. Aside from stroking his ego regarding how he won the election, the question of whether or not the Russians were involved is relevant only as a national security question, not a partisan political goose chase. That he would openly mock the Intel community before he's even been briefed about it is puzzling and a little bit disturbing.

How's it going to go down when NKorea starts testing ICBMs?
He's stated flatly, "...that won't happen..." which sounds a shitload like a "red line". So what's he going to do if he doesn't trust the Intel community and they don't trust him? How does that benefit America in an area that is frankly a petrifying idea to even ponder.

Imagine a nuclear-tipped crisis and the two main antagonists are Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two leaders with arguably the thinnest skin in the world.

H-O-L-Y Crap!

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

Jan 4, 2017 8:12:38 GMT -5 Buckeye Dale said:

But it didn't provide any such evidence. Instead, it simply listed tools used to carry out the attack, and asserted that Russia must have been the ones who used them.

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

Hardly the case, Big Cheese.

In our debate, I'm always the guy with the well-documented evidence.

You're the guy who posts the evidence-free CIA propaganda in the MSM.

[daleko]

Jan 4, 2017 14:26:15 GMT -5 Walter said:

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

What I don't get in all this is why Trump is picking an unnecessary fight with the intelligence community. Aside from stroking his ego regarding how he won the election, the question of whether or not the Russians were involved is relevant only as a national security question, not a partisan political goose chase. That he would openly mock the Intel community before he's even been briefed about it is puzzling and a little bit disturbing.

How's it going to go down when NKorea starts testing ICBMs?
He's stated flatly, "...that won't happen..." which sounds a shitload like a "red line". So what's he going to do if he doesn't trust the Intel community and they don't trust him? How does that benefit America in an area that is frankly a petrifying idea to even ponder.

Imagine a nuclear-tipped crisis and the two main antagonists are Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two leaders with arguably the thinnest skin in the world.

H-O-L-Y Crap!

And I blame this all on the Dems. They ran Hillary. Fuckers. As an aside, the Nostradamus believers, of which I am not, divine that this country and world are headed for issues.

[daleko]

Jan 4, 2017 14:33:06 GMT -5 DrSchadenfreude said:

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

Hardly the case, Big Cheese.

In our debate, I'm always the guy with the well-documented but flimsy circumstantial,  evidence.

You're the guy who posts the evidence-free CIA propaganda in the MSM.

FIFY. You're welcome.

[Buckeye Dale]

Jan 4, 2017 14:26:15 GMT -5 Walter said:

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

What I don't get in all this is why Trump is picking an unnecessary fight with the intelligence community. Aside from stroking his ego regarding how he won the election, the question of whether or not the Russians were involved is relevant only as a national security question, not a partisan political goose chase. That he would openly mock the Intel community before he's even been briefed about it is puzzling and a little bit disturbing.

How's it going to go down when NKorea starts testing ICBMs?
He's stated flatly, "...that won't happen..." which sounds a shitload like a "red line". So what's he going to do if he doesn't trust the Intel community and they don't trust him? How does that benefit America in an area that is frankly a petrifying idea to even ponder.

Imagine a nuclear-tipped crisis and the two main antagonists are Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two leaders with arguably the thinnest skin in the world.

H-O-L-Y Crap!

I think it was a very necessary fight with the RULERS of the intelligence community, who will be unemployed in a little over two weeks.

[AlaCowboy]

Jan 4, 2017 14:26:15 GMT -5 Walter said:

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

What I don't get in all this is why Trump is picking an unnecessary fight with the intelligence community. Aside from stroking his ego regarding how he won the election, the question of whether or not the Russians were involved is relevant only as a national security question, not a partisan political goose chase. That he would openly mock the Intel community before he's even been briefed about it is puzzling and a little bit disturbing.

How's it going to go down when NKorea starts testing ICBMs?
He's stated flatly, "...that won't happen..." which sounds a shitload like a "red line". So what's he going to do if he doesn't trust the Intel community and they don't trust him? How does that benefit America in an area that is frankly a petrifying idea to even ponder.

Imagine a nuclear-tipped crisis and the two main antagonists are Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two leaders with arguably the thinnest skin in the world.

H-O-L-Y Crap!

I'll bet you were weeing your panties and saying the same about that crazy Ronald Reagan calling the Soviet Union the Evil Empire. His strategy broke their spirit and collapsed the Evil Empire.

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2017 14:26:15 GMT -5 Walter said:

Jan 4, 2017 13:58:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

IF TRUE, it follows the Willie conspiracy investigative method of determining who did what. 

What I don't get in all this is why Trump is picking an unnecessary fight with the intelligence community. Aside from stroking his ego regarding how he won the election, the question of whether or not the Russians were involved is relevant only as a national security question, not a partisan political goose chase. That he would openly mock the Intel community before he's even been briefed about it is puzzling and a little bit disturbing.

How's it going to go down when NKorea starts testing ICBMs?
He's stated flatly, "...that won't happen..." which sounds a shitload like a "red line". So what's he going to do if he doesn't trust the Intel community and they don't trust him? How does that benefit America in an area that is frankly a petrifying idea to even ponder.

Imagine a nuclear-tipped crisis and the two main antagonists are Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two leaders with arguably the thinnest skin in the world.

H-O-L-Y Crap!

I see you've been watching CNN again.  This current intelligence community is TOLD what to say publicly by the Black House.
We have known for YEARS that foreign countries (PLURAL) have the ability to tap into any type of communication system we have.  Why is it only a problem when information on the crooked behavior of the DNC is hacked and brought into the open?  Remember, that is the ONLY hacking that took place, no matter who actually did it.

[bamorin]

all of the pointing of fingers at the russians by the very same folks who pointed a finger at a guy who made a video.

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2017 17:38:40 GMT -5 bamorin said:

all of the pointing of fingers at the russians by the very same folks who pointed a finger at a guy who made a video.

Hell, they even put that poor guy in JAIL ...............  and the REAL criminal, Hitlery, walks free.

[bamorin]

Jan 4, 2017 17:53:38 GMT -5 @muttmk2 said:

Jan 4, 2017 17:38:40 GMT -5 bamorin said:

all of the pointing of fingers at the russians by the very same folks who pointed a finger at a guy who made a video.

Hell, they even put that poor guy in JAIL ...............  and the REAL criminal, Hitlery, walks free.

.......and they're expelling russians, when they should be storming the clinton compound in NY

[Buckeye Dale]

Just heard on the news this morning that the feds were not even allowed access to the DNC servers/computers to examine the 'evidence.'