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Where is US counter-intel in this? Isn't this what the FBI is supposed to be handling and partially designed for? It seems crazy that possible foreign entities

Where is US counter-intel in this? Isn't this what the FBI is supposed to be handling and partially designed for? It seems crazy that possible foreign entities are causing chaos at home and we seem unable (unwilling?) to stop it.

chameleon_world 7y ago
I would bet this is not foreign entities. But who knows. Maybe the FBI are looking into this. They aren't going to tweet about it, so who knows what they are doing.
karatestomp 7y ago
The protests are being cheered on by the President in his tweets and press conferences, and championed by more mainstream right-wing news (Fox) with constant coverage. I doubt Trump’s FBI is being given much room to investigate this sort of thing, assuming they want to.
meowface 7y ago
Who's to say counter-intelligence isn't already all over it? There's only so much they can do besides monitor, analyze, and attribute it, though. They publicly announce things when there's a lot of aggregated evidence collected over time, and high potential impact, like some of the past official announcements about the election interference. Releasing a statement for every instance of confirmed or suspected disinformation/propaganda just isn't practical and also may just play right into the hands of the intelligence agency they're trying to counter. It's possible the actors may, on some level, actually want their plausibly deniable actions to be recognized in some cases. It creates yet another wedge in American politics, just like all of the other stuff Russian intelligence has done in recent years. They or others may be trying to construct a double bind: one sort of victory if they remain undetected or at least unexposed; another sort of victory if they do get exposed. Not to mention the primary practical purpose of keeping it secret so they can continue to monitor further activity. If they blow the lid on it, they'll change tactics and be harder to trace in the future. That's why spy rings are often tracked over years before being busted, like the case involving Anna Chapman. You can't effectively counter intelligence if you immediately announce that the intelligence has been countered. In infosec terms, it's like burning a zero-day. Also, there isn't any solid evidence this is Russian state-sponsored activity. Certainly a real possibility, but also could just be a random dude trying to make a buck and/or have fun. Either way, there's surely a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes which we're not aware of and may never be aware of. Surely some intelligence or law enforcement people have seen this very thread, or at least the Krebs article. Finally, there could already be some covert countering occurring, like when Cyber Command targeted Russia's IRA troll farm in 2018 and temporarily disabled their internet access.

chameleon_world 7y ago

I would bet this is not foreign entities. But who knows. Maybe the FBI are looking into this. They aren't going to tweet about it, so who knows what they are doing.

karatestomp 7y ago

The protests are being cheered on by the President in his tweets and press conferences, and championed by more mainstream right-wing news (Fox) with constant coverage. I doubt Trump’s FBI is being given much room to investigate this sort of thing, assuming they want to.

meowface 7y ago

Who's to say counter-intelligence isn't already all over it? There's only so much they can do besides monitor, analyze, and attribute it, though. They publicly announce things when there's a lot of aggregated evidence collected over time, and high potential impact, like some of the past official announcements about the election interference. Releasing a statement for every instance of confirmed or suspected disinformation/propaganda just isn't practical and also may just play right into the hands of the intelligence agency they're trying to counter. It's possible the actors may, on some level, actually want their plausibly deniable actions to be recognized in some cases. It creates yet another wedge in American politics, just like all of the other stuff Russian intelligence has done in recent years. They or others may be trying to construct a double bind: one sort of victory if they remain undetected or at least unexposed; another sort of victory if they do get exposed. Not to mention the primary practical purpose of keeping it secret so they can continue to monitor further activity. If they blow the lid on it, they'll change tactics and be harder to trace in the future. That's why spy rings are often tracked over years before being busted, like the case involving Anna Chapman. You can't effectively counter intelligence if you immediately announce that the intelligence has been countered. In infosec terms, it's like burning a zero-day. Also, there isn't any solid evidence this is Russian state-sponsored activity. Certainly a real possibility, but also could just be a random dude trying to make a buck and/or have fun. Either way, there's surely a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes which we're not aware of and may never be aware of. Surely some intelligence or law enforcement people have seen this very thread, or at least the Krebs article. Finally, there could already be some covert countering occurring, like when Cyber Command targeted Russia's IRA troll farm in 2018 and temporarily disabled their internet access.