4 ms·

I see no clearer proof in the last 7 days that Trump is a Russian asset, plain and simple. The current Trump government are hostile to cybersecurity of the West

I see no clearer proof in the last 7 days that Trump is a Russian asset, plain and simple. The current Trump government are hostile to cybersecurity of the West, to liberal democracy and to freedom.

kennysoona 2y ago
What's worse is there is nothing we can do about it since half the country thinks it's great.
- nonrandomstring 2y ago
  There is absolutely everything you can do about it. This is not a forum for plotting counter-action and with respect to the owners and moderators I will not elaborate. Suffice it to say the time has come when we all should think about how our skills are needed (by our country) for more than simply making money, like rising to the challenge of defending democracy. Thankyou mdp2021.
  - mdp2021 2y ago
    (I'd kindly advise you to rephrase that - the second phrase - in more acceptable terms. For example, if you actually had examples of good proposals, that would be constructive and finally appropriate.)
    - rbanffy 2y ago
      A couple ideas immediately come to mind: Using AI and LLMs to counter the onslaught of online disinformation, tailoring that to audiences that currently are coopted by disinformation, reinforcing the value of democracy and how an assault on it, even if by people someone supports, will, inevitably, backfire. Create and automate hundreds or thousands of credible Twitter and Truth Social accounts and disrupt their misinformation distribution network. Magnify dissenting Republican voices, splitting the party and stoking rivalries. Trump relies on his majority on both houses and his control of the GOP. Nullifying it brings the game back into the conventional democratic debate. There isn't much we can do to mostly offline networks, such as Fox, OANN, Rogan and such except to bait them into spreading misinformation that's in the interest of the country, but against the interests of the current government. Doing so will impact their credibility with their audience. Also, reinforce critical systems against cyber attacks, and do so without the help or support of the government. A great many of the assets that would be attacked are privately owned, and doing so is already a good idea. It's extremely important to not break any law doing this. Assume enforcement will be discretionary and will be aggressive against any party that opposes the current incumbent.
      - mdp2021 2y ago
        Information war is already on, the classical way, with embarrassing tints: # President Job Approval Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2025 Poll: Daily Mail Results: Approve 54 Disapprove 46 Spread: Approve +8 Poll: NPR/PBS/Marist Results: Approve 45 Disapprove 51 Spread: Disapprove +6 From www.realclearpolitics.com
  - kennysoona 2y ago
    You're talking about a civil war, and given that dems are less likely to jump to violence as a solution, things are a long way off from dems being willing to engage like that. Edit: Comment I replied to was edited after my reply.
    - mdp2021 2y ago
      > a biochemistry degree and taking advantage Formally speaking around it: # Kennedy Jr backtracks and says US measles outbreak is now a ‘top priority’ for health department https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-health-department https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/kennedy-jr-m... Directly speaking: dude, are you trying to sabotage the debate?
      - kennysoona 2y ago
        > dude, are you trying to sabotage the debate? No, I was speaking my mind, but I've now retracted that statement since it isn't worth the scrutiny it would bring.
    - nonrandomstring 2y ago
      Why are you thinking about war and violence? You have a computer. It does more than cat pictures.
      - kennysoona 2y ago
        I've never been one for cat pictures, but I'd love to hear your suggestions.
        fsflover 2y ago
        Support eff.org for one.
- polydevil 2y ago
  I am confused. Isn't that how democracy works?
  - jxjnskkzxxhx 2y ago
    Yes it is. And it is possible for democracies to make bad decisions.
    - polydevil 2y ago
      Do you think that not considering Russia a main cyber threat is a wrong decision? Why? Article gives no clear answer to why would it will make everything worse. It does, however, speculate on how it may be a bad decision, but no one knows for sure.
      - dredmorbius 2y ago
        From TFA: This comes just weeks after security analysts sounded the alarm on Sandworm stealing credentials and data from American organizations. Sandworm is the operations wing of Russia's Military Intelligence Unit 74455, part of the GRU, that has been blamed for waging cyberwarfare against America's critical infrastructure. That 'graph links directly to: "Two Russians sanctioned over cyberattacks on US critical infrastructure" (22 July 2024) <https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/russians_sanctioned_over_cyberattacks/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/russians_sanctioned_o...> And: "Kremlin's Sandworm blamed for cyberattacks on US, European water utilities" (17 April 2024) <https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/russia_sandworm_cyberattacks_water/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/russia_sandworm_cyber...> The Register has tags linking to other Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stories which detail many further such instances: <https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Cybersecurity%20and%20Infrastructure%20Security%20Agency/ https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Cybersecurity%20and%20Infras...> Which is a very small sampling of what can be found online. HN itself turns up nearly 300 story submissions for "russia hackers": <https://hn.algolia.com/?q=russia%20hackers https://hn.algolia.com/?q=russia%20hackers> Let's dispense with the asking of facile questions readily answered within the article itself or very proximate resources. It is at best strongly disingenuous.
jiggawatts 2y ago
The president of the United States has in a matter of days: - Insulted the president of Ukraine in a manner such that every news channel -- except Fox news and Russian state media -- called it shameful. - Stopped military support to Ukraine after the previous administration sent ~$100 B in aid, essentially making that investment into an ally a giant waste of money. - Prevented the three-letter agencies doing their job in Russia. - Reduced sanctions on Russia. - While turning up sanctions to eleven on America's closest allies. - Invited Russia back into G7. - Has said nothing but nice things about Russia and especially its kleptocracic and murderous leader. (Think about the ridiculous number of defenestrations in Russia, the polonium tea, giving dioxin to Yushchenko, etc...) The terrifying thing is that I've spoken to some MAGA friends and they love this. Absolutely love it. They think it's brilliant. It's just mindboggling.
- mdp2021 2y ago
  You forgot to mention the war crimes - which are not only paramount, but very objective. > I've spoken to Show them explicitly that there can be no vanity in being immoral.
- cedws 2y ago
  Perhaps the only good thing he's done so far is unite Europe, but it remains to be seen if we've actually been roused into action. The US has shown itself to be an unreliable ally and we need to be able to fend for ourselves now.
  - nonrandomstring 2y ago
    The US is an ally in distress. We'll be happy to repay the debt from 80 years ago and reaffirm our common cause to freedom when the call comes.
    - cedws 2y ago
      I don't know about that, they voted for this. Good will can be burnt surprisingly quickly, especially when they're singing to the tune of Russian propaganda. It only took one round of tariffs on Canada for relations to considerably decay.

I see no clearer proof in the last 7 days that Trump is a Russian asset, plain and simple. The current Trump government are hostile to cybersecurity of the West, to liberal democracy and to freedom.

kennysoona 2y ago

What's worse is there is nothing we can do about it since half the country thinks it's great.

nonrandomstring 2y ago
There is absolutely everything you can do about it. This is not a forum for plotting counter-action and with respect to the owners and moderators I will not elaborate. Suffice it to say the time has come when we all should think about how our skills are needed (by our country) for more than simply making money, like rising to the challenge of defending democracy. Thankyou mdp2021.
- mdp2021 2y ago
  (I'd kindly advise you to rephrase that - the second phrase - in more acceptable terms. For example, if you actually had examples of good proposals, that would be constructive and finally appropriate.)
  - rbanffy 2y ago
    A couple ideas immediately come to mind: Using AI and LLMs to counter the onslaught of online disinformation, tailoring that to audiences that currently are coopted by disinformation, reinforcing the value of democracy and how an assault on it, even if by people someone supports, will, inevitably, backfire. Create and automate hundreds or thousands of credible Twitter and Truth Social accounts and disrupt their misinformation distribution network. Magnify dissenting Republican voices, splitting the party and stoking rivalries. Trump relies on his majority on both houses and his control of the GOP. Nullifying it brings the game back into the conventional democratic debate. There isn't much we can do to mostly offline networks, such as Fox, OANN, Rogan and such except to bait them into spreading misinformation that's in the interest of the country, but against the interests of the current government. Doing so will impact their credibility with their audience. Also, reinforce critical systems against cyber attacks, and do so without the help or support of the government. A great many of the assets that would be attacked are privately owned, and doing so is already a good idea. It's extremely important to not break any law doing this. Assume enforcement will be discretionary and will be aggressive against any party that opposes the current incumbent.
    - mdp2021 2y ago
      Information war is already on, the classical way, with embarrassing tints: # President Job Approval Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2025 Poll: Daily Mail Results: Approve 54 Disapprove 46 Spread: Approve +8 Poll: NPR/PBS/Marist Results: Approve 45 Disapprove 51 Spread: Disapprove +6 From www.realclearpolitics.com
- kennysoona 2y ago
  You're talking about a civil war, and given that dems are less likely to jump to violence as a solution, things are a long way off from dems being willing to engage like that. Edit: Comment I replied to was edited after my reply.
  - mdp2021 2y ago
    > a biochemistry degree and taking advantage Formally speaking around it: # Kennedy Jr backtracks and says US measles outbreak is now a ‘top priority’ for health department https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-health-department https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/kennedy-jr-m... Directly speaking: dude, are you trying to sabotage the debate?
    - kennysoona 2y ago
      > dude, are you trying to sabotage the debate? No, I was speaking my mind, but I've now retracted that statement since it isn't worth the scrutiny it would bring.
  - nonrandomstring 2y ago
    Why are you thinking about war and violence? You have a computer. It does more than cat pictures.
    - kennysoona 2y ago
      I've never been one for cat pictures, but I'd love to hear your suggestions.
      - fsflover 2y ago
        Support eff.org for one.
polydevil 2y ago
I am confused. Isn't that how democracy works?
- jxjnskkzxxhx 2y ago
  Yes it is. And it is possible for democracies to make bad decisions.
  - polydevil 2y ago
    Do you think that not considering Russia a main cyber threat is a wrong decision? Why? Article gives no clear answer to why would it will make everything worse. It does, however, speculate on how it may be a bad decision, but no one knows for sure.
    - dredmorbius 2y ago
      From TFA: This comes just weeks after security analysts sounded the alarm on Sandworm stealing credentials and data from American organizations. Sandworm is the operations wing of Russia's Military Intelligence Unit 74455, part of the GRU, that has been blamed for waging cyberwarfare against America's critical infrastructure. That 'graph links directly to: "Two Russians sanctioned over cyberattacks on US critical infrastructure" (22 July 2024) <https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/russians_sanctioned_over_cyberattacks/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/russians_sanctioned_o...> And: "Kremlin's Sandworm blamed for cyberattacks on US, European water utilities" (17 April 2024) <https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/russia_sandworm_cyberattacks_water/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/russia_sandworm_cyber...> The Register has tags linking to other Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stories which detail many further such instances: <https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Cybersecurity%20and%20Infrastructure%20Security%20Agency/ https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Cybersecurity%20and%20Infras...> Which is a very small sampling of what can be found online. HN itself turns up nearly 300 story submissions for "russia hackers": <https://hn.algolia.com/?q=russia%20hackers https://hn.algolia.com/?q=russia%20hackers> Let's dispense with the asking of facile questions readily answered within the article itself or very proximate resources. It is at best strongly disingenuous.

jiggawatts 2y ago

The president of the United States has in a matter of days: - Insulted the president of Ukraine in a manner such that every news channel -- except Fox news and Russian state media -- called it shameful. - Stopped military support to Ukraine after the previous administration sent ~$100 B in aid, essentially making that investment into an ally a giant waste of money. - Prevented the three-letter agencies doing their job in Russia. - Reduced sanctions on Russia. - While turning up sanctions to eleven on America's closest allies. - Invited Russia back into G7. - Has said nothing but nice things about Russia and especially its kleptocracic and murderous leader. (Think about the ridiculous number of defenestrations in Russia, the polonium tea, giving dioxin to Yushchenko, etc...) The terrifying thing is that I've spoken to some MAGA friends and they love this. Absolutely love it. They think it's brilliant. It's just mindboggling.

mdp2021 2y ago
You forgot to mention the war crimes - which are not only paramount, but very objective. > I've spoken to Show them explicitly that there can be no vanity in being immoral.
cedws 2y ago
Perhaps the only good thing he's done so far is unite Europe, but it remains to be seen if we've actually been roused into action. The US has shown itself to be an unreliable ally and we need to be able to fend for ourselves now.
- nonrandomstring 2y ago
  The US is an ally in distress. We'll be happy to repay the debt from 80 years ago and reaffirm our common cause to freedom when the call comes.
  - cedws 2y ago
    I don't know about that, they voted for this. Good will can be burnt surprisingly quickly, especially when they're singing to the tune of Russian propaganda. It only took one round of tariffs on Canada for relations to considerably decay.