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NBC Report: Russian Hackers Behind Attack On Pentagon Mail System

Posted by timothy on from the they-were-just-drawn-to-the-shape dept.

New submitter packetspike alerts us to a story at CNBC, according to which U.S. officials have told NBC News that Russian hackers are behind a "sophisticated cyberattack" against the unclassified email system used by the Pentagon's Joint Staff , which has since been shut down and taken off line. "According to the officials, the "sophisticated cyber intrusion" occurred sometime around July 25 and affected some 4,000 military and civilian personnel work for the Joint Chiefs of Staff." The story claims that it's unclear whether the mail-system's attackers were backed by the Russian government. (Expect more to come on this story.)

4 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. "sources," eh? "US officials" you say? by r-diddly · · Score: 3, Insightful

    On the one hand, this type of attack happens all the time and is entirely plausible. On the other hand, the US continues to try to antagonize Russia and propagandize US citizens, and unnamed sources don't exactly speak well for journalistic quality.

    1. Re:"sources," eh? "US officials" you say? by TWX · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Russia has been in an antagonistic relationship with "The West" for hundreds of years. For a time it was France. For a time it was the United Kingdom. For a time it was the Nordic countries. This current round of antagonism goes back to WWII and Russia getting the crap beat out of it by Germany before the US and the UK opened a second front.

      Foreign leaders often end up as propaganda. In my relatively short time on this earth I've seen Arafat, Papa Doc, Manuel Noriega, Khomeini, Saddam Hussein, Milosevic, and probably others that I can't remember used by the media to drive ratings. If you randomly sampled Americans you'd probably find they only know Hussein, but it took two wars and a long occupation for that connection to be made.

      Vladimir Putin will probably be just as forgotten to Americans as most of the rest of these men.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:"sources," eh? "US officials" you say? by Princeofcups · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This current round of antagonism goes back to WWII and Russia getting the crap beat out of it by Germany before the US and the UK opened a second front.

      And you complain about THEM believing the propaganda? We may have helped the war in Eastern Europe end sooner, but after summer 1943, the eventual victor was never in doubt.

      --
      The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
    3. Re:"sources," eh? "US officials" you say? by nofx911 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Odd how everyone makes a big deal of the russians shooting down a commercial airliner... the Americans did the exact same thing with USS Vincennes.

      The USS Vincennes incident is also "indisputable" but thankfully was explained away by "scenario completion syndrome"

      The USA Government did acknowledge that it shot down the aircraft and did agree to pay compensation to the families. "As part of the settlement, the United States did not admit legal liability but agreed to pay on an ex gratia basis US$61.8 million, amounting to $213,103.45 per passenger, in compensation to the families of the Iranian victims."

      Source:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...