Russia's influence on the election might be bigger than you thought

[ivwshane]

It appears Russia is at war with us but the battlefield is digital.

Maddow did a piece on Russian influence on the election (it's a series of pieces she's been writing about). So far she's talked about when things started including the Russians making public promises about their capabilities.

Whether trump is involved is immaterial to the seriousness of what Russia did and is continuing to do.

I know I personally experienced odd comments on articles I read that allowed comments and at first I'd correct their claims but then it seemed like their point was to cause the discussion to go off topic making conversation almost impossible.

I have no idea how website would detect this stuff let alone deal with it but I'm curious to know if anandtech had to deal with any of this.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article139695453.html

Operatives for Russia appear to have strategically timed the computer commands, known as “bots,” to blitz social media with links to the pro-Trump stories at times when the billionaire businessman was on the defensive in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, these sources said.

The bots’ end products were largely millions of Twitter and Facebook posts carrying links to stories on conservative internet sites such as Breitbart News and InfoWars, as well as on the Kremlin-backed RT News and Sputnik News, the sources said. Some of the stories were false or mixed fact and fiction, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the bot attacks are part of an FBI-led investigation into a multifaceted Russian operation to influence last year’s elections.


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article139695453.html#storylink=cpy

She can be hard to watch sometimes because she likes to drag things out and paint a picture, so those who can stand her can watch her piece here.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/...-tactics-in-us-election-continue-903442499654

 

[Younigue]

It appears Russia is at war with us but the battlefield is digital.

Maddow did a piece on Russian influence on the election (it's a series of pieces she's been writing about). So far she's talked about when things started including the Russians making public promises about their capabilities.

Whether trump is involved is immaterial to the seriousness of what Russia did and is continuing to do.

I know I personally experienced odd comments on articles I read that allowed comments and at first I'd correct their claims but then it seemed like their point was to cause the discussion to go off topic making conversation almost impossible.

I have no idea how website would detect this stuff let alone deal with it but I'm curious to know if anandtech had to deal with any of this.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article139695453.html




She can be hard to watch sometimes because she likes to drag things out and paint a picture, so those who can stand her can watch her piece here.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/...-tactics-in-us-election-continue-903442499654

I've read about this. It was a while ago and no way would I be able to find it to link it. What I read suggests that there is a vast network of people hired in Russia on Putin's orders to do exactly this and no it's not only aimed at the U.S.. The intention is to disrupt governments and cause unrest in many countries. I've not looked in to it any further and yes Maddow is difficult to watch so I'll have to look elsewhere to further inform myself.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Some more interesting links for folks.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-cyber-warfare-election-hack-1.3896613

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39062663

https://euobserver.com/opinion/136909

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-europe-idUSKBN14W2BY

https://www.ft.com/content/cff20452-c1fb-11e6-9bca-2b93a6856354

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/...ited-elite-hackers-for-its-cyberwar.html?_r=0

 

[ivwshane]

I've read about this. It was a while ago and no way would I be able to find it to link it. What I read suggests that there is a vast network of people hired in Russia on Putin's orders to do exactly this and no it's not only aimed at the U.S.. The intention is to disrupt governments and cause unrest in many countries. I've not looked in to it any further and yes Maddow is difficult to watch so I'll have to look elsewhere to further inform myself.

I was aware of the paid trolls but this is different. Its the equivalent of spamming your in box so you don't even bother looking for important emails anymore.

 

[ivwshane]

Some more interesting links for folks.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-cyber-warfare-election-hack-1.3896613

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39062663

https://euobserver.com/opinion/136909

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-europe-idUSKBN14W2BY

https://www.ft.com/content/cff20452-c1fb-11e6-9bca-2b93a6856354

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/...ited-elite-hackers-for-its-cyberwar.html?_r=0

Thank you. It looks like Russia has declared wwIII.

 

[tweaker2]

I check in on her once in awhile to see the progress she's making on fitting all of the Trump/Putin puzzle pieces together. Pretty alarming shit that's backed up with verifiable factoids, for those that are actually interested in the facts that is.

Although I wish that she wouldn't stray off and pitch the occasional near-conspiracy themed stuff that's somewhat of a stretch.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Thank you. It looks like Russia has declared wwIII.

A long time ago.

 

[BoomerD]

As much as I hated Ronnie Rayguns, at least he knew enough not to trust the Soviets...Russians...and he's gotta be absolutely rolling over in his grave over this shit.

 

[Moonbeam]

I have trouble watching Maddow too. She is so intellectually gifted and mentally precise in her logic there's no room to critique or rationalize away what she says in any intelligently meaningful way. She sucks all of the truth out of what she describes and on top of everything else is mildly bemused she has to explain what she is saying, like isn't all of this perfectly obvious. Also I can't shake the knowledge that she's not sexually interested in men which is a bit off-putting to my ego. As a man I derive great ego satisfaction in being the dominant gender and she threatens that on top of the big brain thing. I have a terrible suspicion deep in side of me that I suffer from some kind of sense of inferiority. At least I'm a world champion nobody.

 

[agent00f]

Thank you. It looks like Russia has declared wwIII.

A long time ago.

It's not really "war" per se, just clandestine operations to undermine adversaries. In perspective it's a smarter approach than the American more brute force method of installing friendly government, but I guess it's our turn now.

 

[cytg111]

I've been pushing this narrative for years. Its all over the place. I dont understand why they want conflict (really, why?) but they sure is pushing the agenda.

 

[Victorian Gray]

It's not really "war" per se, just clandestine operations to undermine adversaries. In perspective it's a smarter approach than the American more brute force method of installing friendly government, but I guess it's our turn now.

Well Putin is in a war against the concept of Western Liberalism and he's been fighting against it all over the world and for a lot of years. I believe that war is an appropriate word for what he/Russia has been doing.

 

[agent00f]

Well Putin is in a war against the concept of Western Liberalism and he's been fighting against it all over the world and for a lot of years. I believe that war is an appropriate word for what he/Russia has been doing.

I don't think it's a ideological conflict with western liberalism per se much as any threat to himself, which is why for example he fights conservative/extremist muslims aligned against him with actual physical armies. It also plays really well at home to be under siege by enemies whom he's the strongman solution to. He'll definitely be seen as outwitting the west here.

 

[ivwshane]

I've been pushing this narrative for years. Its all over the place. I dont understand why they want conflict (really, why?) but they sure is pushing the agenda.

It appears putin is steeped Russian nationalism and was deeply moved by his perception of how the west humiliated boris Yeltsin. By all accounts he's been plotting his revenge on America for a while now.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ack-dnc-clinton-election-2016-cold-war-214532

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Thank you. It looks like Russia has declared wwIII.

Hyperbole isn't useful. This is more like the Cold War- bad, but the nukes aren't flying. Duck and cover? No.

It makes perfect sense for Russians to try to interfere with the internet to use as a propaganda tool but you lost me when you got to the level of Anandtech. That smacks of looking for commies under the bed. Who is suspect? Me because I didn't and still don't trust Hillary? I'm some mind control expert of Russian origin? Strong Trump supporters who don't convert anyone but get dumped on? Perk? He's an admin after all and may be cleverly controlling the boards. Er, no and he'll probably have a good laugh when he sees this. Moonbeam?

The point is that this is what propaganda is designed to do, create distrust between people as well as manipulate towards a desired set of ideas. Your concern at the gross level of control is warranted and I'm not dismissing it, but complete manipulation to the granular level that is AT? That's a bit much, but that's what a Russian agent would say, right?

 

[HomerJS]

Hyperbole isn't useful. This is more like the Cold War- bad, but the nukes aren't flying. Duck and cover? No.

It makes perfect sense for Russians to try to interfere with the internet to use as a propaganda tool but you lost me when you got to the level of Anandtech. That smacks of looking for commies under the bed. Who is suspect? Me because I didn't and still don't trust Hillary? I'm some mind control expert of Russian origin? Strong Trump supporters who don't convert anyone but get dumped on? Perk? He's an admin after all and may be cleverly controlling the boards. Er, no and he'll probably have a good laugh when he sees this. Moonbeam?

The point is that this is what propaganda is designed to do, create distrust between people as well as manipulate towards a desired set of ideas. Your concern at the gross level of control is warranted and I'm not dismissing it, but complete manipulation to the granular level that is AT? That's a bit much, but that's what a Russian agent would say, right?

Stealing DNC info and using it to influence our election is an act of War. If someone hacks an electronic account and uses the info, it is theft. They may have well have dropped into the country overnight, broke into paper files, copied info and exited before dawn.

Question is now what do we do about it?

 

[vi edit]

Sorta related, but this AP article on Manafort was pretty damning.

https://apnews.com/122ae0b5848345fa...plan-to-'greatly-benefit-the-Putin-Government

What's very fun is that this stuff started up in 2005. In 2006 he moved into Trump Tower. I'm not saying there's a link there....but those optics are not very good looking back at it.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Stealing DNC info and using it to influence our election is an act of War. If someone hacks an electronic account and uses the info, it is theft. They may have well have dropped into the country overnight, broke into paper files, copied info and exited before dawn.

Question is now what do we do about it?

There are always acts of war. Saddam committed them and we took him up on it more than once. IMO we should not have taken the bait the second time.
"Acts of War" are not the same as war and absolutely not WWIII. Ratcheting up tensions by inflammatory hyperbole has a history of producing unwise actions.

That said I believe concerns expressed have merits. I don't believe sanctions will work against Russia as they may hurt some common people but the oligarch will remain just that and the rest will view them as attacks against themselves, and Russians are highly nationalistic.

The best course of action is to follow security best practices, which is almost never done where hacks were discovered. Creating more robust cyber defenses is vital as well on a continuing basis. A dedicated hacker is like a master thief. They can get your valuables if given enough time but it's foolish to leave the front door open with a welcome sign.

 

[Genx87]

Stealing DNC info and using it to influence our election is an act of War. If someone hacks an electronic account and uses the info, it is theft. They may have well have dropped into the country overnight, broke into paper files, copied info and exited before dawn.

Question is now what do we do about it?

This is American exceptionalism at its finest. We militarily remove govts from power and interfere with elections everywhere. The mere suggestion another country does the same to us and it is WWIII. Whatever that is supposed to mean. I take that as an armed conflict needs to be waged.

I think the most funny part about this is how the left have turned into 1980s republicans with a hint of 1950s McCarthy.

 

[cytg111]

It appears putin is steeped Russian nationalism and was deeply moved by his perception of how the west humiliated boris Yeltsin. By all accounts he's been plotting his revenge on America for a while now.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ack-dnc-clinton-election-2016-cold-war-214532

Its not just the US .. its everyone everywhere.

 

[HomerJS]

This is American exceptionalism at its finest. We militarily remove govts from power and interfere with elections everywhere. The mere suggestion another country does the same to us and it is WWIII. Whatever that is supposed to mean. I take that as an armed conflict needs to be waged.

I think the most funny part about this is how the left have turned into 1980s republicans with a hint of 1950s McCarthy.

To clarify I wouldn't label it WWIII either albeit still an act of war. Information is captured all the time by countries but in case it was weaponized.

The US used hacking to interrupt Iran's nuclear program. If you get a chance watch the movie Zero Days.

 

[HomerJS]

Its not just the US .. its everyone everywhere.

BTW - Now that we know RNC was hacked as well you might want to remove #1 from your signature

 

[cytg111]

There are always acts of war. Saddam committed them and we took him up on it more than once. IMO we should not have taken the bait the second time.
"Acts of War" are not the same as war and absolutely not WWIII. Ratcheting up tensions by inflammatory hyperbole has a history of producing unwise actions.

That said I believe concerns expressed have merits. I don't believe sanctions will work against Russia as they may hurt some common people but the oligarch will remain just that and the rest will view them as attacks against themselves, and Russians are highly nationalistic.

The best course of action is to follow security best practices, which is almost never done where hacks were discovered. Creating more robust cyber defenses is vital as well on a continuing basis. A dedicated hacker is like a master thief. They can get your valuables if given enough time but it's foolish to leave the front door open with a welcome sign.

I think the question we have to ask ourselves here is this : If Putins extra political ambitions are escalating, ie. gaining momentum, then where is it likely to end. Show me the endgame, what is it he wants to achieve? When is enough enough? - And is that something that is tolerable? - and if not, you better start dealing with it now, proactively instead of reactively. Oh noes, we've been hacked, those damn ruskies again (puts another meaningles sanction into effect.)

 

[cytg111]

BTW - Now that we know RNC was hacked as well you might want to remove #1 from your signature

Nah, its perfect .. I mean "Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!" <- Who writes something like that? I cant even .. its hilarious.

 

[HomerJS]

I think the question we have to ask ourselves here is this : If Putins extra political ambitions are escalating, ie. gaining momentum, then where is it likely to end. Show me the endgame, what is it he wants to achieve? When is enough enough? - And is that something that is tolerable? - and if not, you better start dealing with it now, proactively instead of reactively. Oh noes, we've been hacked, those damn ruskies again (puts another meaningles sanction into effect.)

Here's the problem which is why Obama didn't want to escalate, we are as vulnerable as Russia. Our electricity grids for example are not safe from hacking.