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Why Russia Keeps Getting Away with Hacking America

23 points by TravelTechGuy 10y ago

philip142au 10y ago
It would be better to tighten security and prevent such activity, than to accuse any state actor, accusing a state actor, I would guess, gives them more power in political negotiations. As far as I understand, its mostly impossible to be certain who did what in hacking since the location doesn't really determine who it is.
- hourislate 10y ago
  Nothing is impossible. Don't think for a moment that the US Gov doesn't know who did this. The problem is how to approach it without giving away too much. It is my feeling that all Russian Networks have been compromised including the Kremlin's. There is no other country on Earth the has the reach the USA does. So better to sit quietly and give them nothing. Let the media make the assumptions and suggestions.
matt_wulfeck 10y ago
> Why Russia/America/China/Britain/Israel keep getting away with hacking... Clearly it's because they all do it to each other. Besides, I have a hard time believing the US is not the best and most advanced at it. Other countries would be stupid not to follow in their capabilities in this absurd game of chicken.
droopyEyelids 10y ago
Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? It seems insane to me! The NYT had an article about "How should Obama retaliate for the hack of the DNC?" That is not just putting the cart before the horse, thats dragging out the cart when there is not even evidence indicating a horse is there!
- imron 10y ago
  > Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? It seems insane to me! The DNCleaks showed that the DNC directly colludes and influences various media outlets. They also revealed that the DNC strategy for dealing with any leaks of emails (originally for Hillary's private server) would be blamed on Russian hacking. What we are seeing is basically the DNCs strategy coming in to play, except it's over the DNCleaks instead of anything from Hillary's email server. The level of media manipulation and propaganda that is happening in this election campaign is astounding.
- powertower 10y ago
  Because they are not reputable. In the US we have the best propaganda news networks in the world. IMO rivaling even North Korea. Its all 24 hours non-stop political agenda, 365 days per year. It never stops.
- TenOhms 10y ago
  Why indeed. I think particularly no network has ever earned a better title than CNN with their Clinton News Network. They're all shills for her at this point no matter what she does, they'll hold her to one standard while holding Bernie or Trump to another.
  - imron 10y ago
    You're getting downvoted, and for the people doing that, the DNCleak emails provide evidence that the DNC is colluding with and directly influencing stories and content at major US news outlets. Unfortunately, this person is right.
- finid 10y ago
  > Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? Well, repeat a falsehood often enough and it gets into the group consciousness and becomes accepted as truth. Mission accomplished!
rrggrr 10y ago
Assuming the Russians are to blame for the DNC hacks, the mistake is thinking the US will respond in kind or openly. Russia faces more economic and security challenges now than perhaps at any time since WWII and US pressure can be applied in many ways. Whose to say the Panama Papers were not a CIA operation aimed at exposing Russian and Chinese money laundering? Either way, Chinese hacking appears to be a far more serious threat as the OPM hack illustrates.
hxucaa 10y ago
Oh please. It's not like we Americans don't hack other countries.
- vtange 10y ago
  If that's the case our victims are really good at not crying about it. It's like we're the only ones who shout, "I got hacked!"
  - peteretep 10y ago
    You miss the other side of the coin there, which is that the Americans are very (very) good at not boasting about how good they are at it. If Congress thinks that they're losing the cyberwarz, it'll be easier to appropriate ever-increasing budgets.
  - finid 10y ago
    How do you know you've been hacked when the "hacking" is done via a backdoor in a Cisco edge router or switch or in a Microsoft software? Most small nations that use backdoored devices and software don't have the means to investigate.
peterkelly 10y ago
> "Earlier this week at a speech at Fordham University in New York, FBI Director James Comey sounded a similar note. He said cyberattacks from states and non-state actors "needs to be called out, it needs to be sanctioned, it needs to whenever possible be prosecuted." Agreed. Let's start with the NSA.
- mc32 10y ago
  He's talking inter-state not intra-state actors. It's like somebody shooting themselves in the foot, why would they? Everyone is looking out for themselves --sometimes with intent to help others too.
fleitz 10y ago
Because you live in a country that is more concerned that exposing the corruption of your democracy poses more of a threat than the corruption of democracy itself.
cm2187 10y ago
This article is extraordinary. We now know the biggest offender by far in term of hacking other networks is the US. But when you read it, it feels like we are talking about the US being attacked by a bunch of rogue actors. Do as I say, not as I do.
- peterkelly 10y ago
  It's almost as if there were some sort of bias in the mainstream media...
  - finid 10y ago
    Well, the MSM is an extension of the US govt., so the bias is expected.
Mikeb85 10y ago
Dear god. More anti-Russian fear mongering and propaganda. a) There's no proof Russia was behind the DNC hacks b) Even if they were, why does no one care about the corruption that was uncovered? Don't shoot the messenger... c) Does no one remember the whole Snowden/NSA thing? Every state hacks every other state, the US does it more than most, other countries don't whine nearly as much. Recent weeks have also shattered the idea of the US 'free media'. So much propaganda Stalin would be proud...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- daxorid 10y ago
  Well, SwiftOnSecurity made a snarky macaroni video and the grugq buys the attribution without evidence, so the infosec groupthink must be correct.
- craigvn 10y ago
  Everyone know's that everyone hacks, the problem is one of the Presidential candidates is encouraging hacks on the country he is running for President of.
  - imron 10y ago
    Ok, I'm not a Trump supporter, but if you look at what Trump said, he was talking about Hillary's deleted emails. You know, the ones that were deleted years ago. He was not asking Russia to hack anything, he was asking that if the Russians had already got access to those emails (due to their own hacking) then they should provide them to the FBI. It's a subtle but important difference. It's also worth noting that this is well within the scope of a treaty [0] between the US and Russia (signed by none other than Bill Clinton) covering mutual legal assistance in criminal matters (which this surely is). If you believe that Trump is encouraging Russia to hack various people in order to influence the US election, you have probably been deliberately misled by various media outlets. I say deliberately because if you look at the media outlets driving this story, it's the same ones the DNCleaks show are in direct collusion with the DNC. The DNCleaks also contain information on a strategy that the DNC would try to distract the public from Hillary's email scandal if anything was released from that by trying to put the blame on Russia trying to influence the election (playing to the general public's confirmation bias that Trump and Putin are buddy-buddy). The thing is though, that if there was enough evidence of wrongdoing in those deleted emails that they could influence the outcome of the US election, then Hillary Clinton probably shouldn't be running for president in the first place. Here's a thought experiment: Imagine if the deleted emails contain incriminating content that would cause Hillary to lose the election. Imagine Russia hacked Hillary's server and got access to them. Imagine if they don't release them. Imagine if Hillary becomes president. Congratulations, now Russia has something they can use to blackmail the president of the United States. Either there's nothing of importance in the emails and Russia providing them (assuming they even had them) would have no influence on the election, or there is something of importance in them and that disqualifies Hillary as a suitable candidate. Either way, none of that is on Trump. 0: https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/22 https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/22
rdtsc 10y ago
Anyone else think this great emphasis on Russia hacking the DNC is a way for the existing US govt agencies to gain brownie points with the future President (Clinton). I read the same in the "I advise not to prosecute Clinton for the classified emails on her server" statement by the FBI investigator. Can you imagine advising to prosecute, then she becomes your boss. At some point I'd imagine, all the "experts" and heads of agencies will expect a little promotion, or other favor for contributing to her campaign -- diverting attention from the contents of the email to the hacking itself.
meric 10y ago
Or, Why Clinton's DNC Keeps Getting Away With Not Keeping America's Secrets Safe.

23 points by TravelTechGuy 10y ago

It would be better to tighten security and prevent such activity, than to accuse any state actor, accusing a state actor, I would guess, gives them more power in political negotiations. As far as I understand, its mostly impossible to be certain who did what in hacking since the location doesn't really determine who it is.

hourislate 10y ago
Nothing is impossible. Don't think for a moment that the US Gov doesn't know who did this. The problem is how to approach it without giving away too much. It is my feeling that all Russian Networks have been compromised including the Kremlin's. There is no other country on Earth the has the reach the USA does. So better to sit quietly and give them nothing. Let the media make the assumptions and suggestions.

matt_wulfeck 10y ago

> Why Russia/America/China/Britain/Israel keep getting away with hacking... Clearly it's because they all do it to each other. Besides, I have a hard time believing the US is not the best and most advanced at it. Other countries would be stupid not to follow in their capabilities in this absurd game of chicken.

droopyEyelids 10y ago

Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? It seems insane to me! The NYT had an article about "How should Obama retaliate for the hack of the DNC?" That is not just putting the cart before the horse, thats dragging out the cart when there is not even evidence indicating a horse is there!

imron 10y ago
> Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? It seems insane to me! The DNCleaks showed that the DNC directly colludes and influences various media outlets. They also revealed that the DNC strategy for dealing with any leaks of emails (originally for Hillary's private server) would be blamed on Russian hacking. What we are seeing is basically the DNCs strategy coming in to play, except it's over the DNCleaks instead of anything from Hillary's email server. The level of media manipulation and propaganda that is happening in this election campaign is astounding.
powertower 10y ago
Because they are not reputable. In the US we have the best propaganda news networks in the world. IMO rivaling even North Korea. Its all 24 hours non-stop political agenda, 365 days per year. It never stops.
TenOhms 10y ago
Why indeed. I think particularly no network has ever earned a better title than CNN with their Clinton News Network. They're all shills for her at this point no matter what she does, they'll hold her to one standard while holding Bernie or Trump to another.
- imron 10y ago
  You're getting downvoted, and for the people doing that, the DNCleak emails provide evidence that the DNC is colluding with and directly influencing stories and content at major US news outlets. Unfortunately, this person is right.
finid 10y ago
> Why in God's name are reputable news outlets repeating the completely unverified rumor that it was a Russian hack of the DNC? Well, repeat a falsehood often enough and it gets into the group consciousness and becomes accepted as truth. Mission accomplished!

rrggrr 10y ago

Assuming the Russians are to blame for the DNC hacks, the mistake is thinking the US will respond in kind or openly. Russia faces more economic and security challenges now than perhaps at any time since WWII and US pressure can be applied in many ways. Whose to say the Panama Papers were not a CIA operation aimed at exposing Russian and Chinese money laundering? Either way, Chinese hacking appears to be a far more serious threat as the OPM hack illustrates.

hxucaa 10y ago

Oh please. It's not like we Americans don't hack other countries.

vtange 10y ago
If that's the case our victims are really good at not crying about it. It's like we're the only ones who shout, "I got hacked!"
- peteretep 10y ago
  You miss the other side of the coin there, which is that the Americans are very (very) good at not boasting about how good they are at it. If Congress thinks that they're losing the cyberwarz, it'll be easier to appropriate ever-increasing budgets.
- finid 10y ago
  How do you know you've been hacked when the "hacking" is done via a backdoor in a Cisco edge router or switch or in a Microsoft software? Most small nations that use backdoored devices and software don't have the means to investigate.

peterkelly 10y ago

> "Earlier this week at a speech at Fordham University in New York, FBI Director James Comey sounded a similar note. He said cyberattacks from states and non-state actors "needs to be called out, it needs to be sanctioned, it needs to whenever possible be prosecuted." Agreed. Let's start with the NSA.

mc32 10y ago
He's talking inter-state not intra-state actors. It's like somebody shooting themselves in the foot, why would they? Everyone is looking out for themselves --sometimes with intent to help others too.

fleitz 10y ago

Because you live in a country that is more concerned that exposing the corruption of your democracy poses more of a threat than the corruption of democracy itself.

cm2187 10y ago

This article is extraordinary. We now know the biggest offender by far in term of hacking other networks is the US. But when you read it, it feels like we are talking about the US being attacked by a bunch of rogue actors. Do as I say, not as I do.

peterkelly 10y ago
It's almost as if there were some sort of bias in the mainstream media...
- finid 10y ago
  Well, the MSM is an extension of the US govt., so the bias is expected.

Mikeb85 10y ago

Dear god. More anti-Russian fear mongering and propaganda. a) There's no proof Russia was behind the DNC hacks b) Even if they were, why does no one care about the corruption that was uncovered? Don't shoot the messenger... c) Does no one remember the whole Snowden/NSA thing? Every state hacks every other state, the US does it more than most, other countries don't whine nearly as much. Recent weeks have also shattered the idea of the US 'free media'. So much propaganda Stalin would be proud...

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
daxorid 10y ago
Well, SwiftOnSecurity made a snarky macaroni video and the grugq buys the attribution without evidence, so the infosec groupthink must be correct.
craigvn 10y ago
Everyone know's that everyone hacks, the problem is one of the Presidential candidates is encouraging hacks on the country he is running for President of.
- imron 10y ago
  Ok, I'm not a Trump supporter, but if you look at what Trump said, he was talking about Hillary's deleted emails. You know, the ones that were deleted years ago. He was not asking Russia to hack anything, he was asking that if the Russians had already got access to those emails (due to their own hacking) then they should provide them to the FBI. It's a subtle but important difference. It's also worth noting that this is well within the scope of a treaty [0] between the US and Russia (signed by none other than Bill Clinton) covering mutual legal assistance in criminal matters (which this surely is). If you believe that Trump is encouraging Russia to hack various people in order to influence the US election, you have probably been deliberately misled by various media outlets. I say deliberately because if you look at the media outlets driving this story, it's the same ones the DNCleaks show are in direct collusion with the DNC. The DNCleaks also contain information on a strategy that the DNC would try to distract the public from Hillary's email scandal if anything was released from that by trying to put the blame on Russia trying to influence the election (playing to the general public's confirmation bias that Trump and Putin are buddy-buddy). The thing is though, that if there was enough evidence of wrongdoing in those deleted emails that they could influence the outcome of the US election, then Hillary Clinton probably shouldn't be running for president in the first place. Here's a thought experiment: Imagine if the deleted emails contain incriminating content that would cause Hillary to lose the election. Imagine Russia hacked Hillary's server and got access to them. Imagine if they don't release them. Imagine if Hillary becomes president. Congratulations, now Russia has something they can use to blackmail the president of the United States. Either there's nothing of importance in the emails and Russia providing them (assuming they even had them) would have no influence on the election, or there is something of importance in them and that disqualifies Hillary as a suitable candidate. Either way, none of that is on Trump. 0: https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/22 https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/22

rdtsc 10y ago

Anyone else think this great emphasis on Russia hacking the DNC is a way for the existing US govt agencies to gain brownie points with the future President (Clinton). I read the same in the "I advise not to prosecute Clinton for the classified emails on her server" statement by the FBI investigator. Can you imagine advising to prosecute, then she becomes your boss. At some point I'd imagine, all the "experts" and heads of agencies will expect a little promotion, or other favor for contributing to her campaign -- diverting attention from the contents of the email to the hacking itself.

meric 10y ago

Or, Why Clinton's DNC Keeps Getting Away With Not Keeping America's Secrets Safe.