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Russian Government Hackers Penetrated DNC, Stole Opposition Research On Donald Trump (washingtonpost.com)
Russian government hackers penetrated Democratic National Committee's database and stole research on Donald Trump (could be paywalled; alternate source), according to a report on Washington Post. DNC officials and security experts say the hackers were able to read all e-mail and chats in the DNC system. Some of the hackers had been in the DNC system for a year, the report adds. They were expelled from the computer system this past weekend. Russian spies also targeted the computers of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and several GOP political action committees. From the report: The intrusions are an example of Russia's interest in the U.S. political system and its desire to understand the policies, strengths and weaknesses of a potential future president -- much as American spies gather similar information on foreign candidates and leaders. The depth of the penetration reflects the skill and determination of the United States' top cyber adversary as Russia goes after strategic targets, from the White House and State Department to political campaign organizations.
Also, the DNC are a bunch of clowns. They're not a government agency and have to buy their IT security and it sure sounds like they went with the lowest bidder.
So, they had access for how long? A year? I don't suppose there's *any* chance that the open access that Bernie's folks looked at - one of the first reports I read, never repeated, was the guy in charge of the 4-person team had them look, to see if Hillary had gotten *their* info.
And then the DNC "cleaned up"?
I now believe *nothing* the DNC says about its computer systems, or security, since if they'd *actually* cleaned up... they would have caught the Russians *then*, not the beginning of May.
mark
It would be pretty stupid for Russia not to look into the major political contenders of their primary adversary regardless whether they might win or not.
It's pretty damned stupid that Russia thinks of the United States (or more accurately, NATO and the West) as their "primary adversary" when they have a near negative birthrate and 1.3 billion neighbors to the east that are far more likely to come looking for Lebensraum.
I understand the historical reasons for Russia to fear the West -- multiple invasions in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries -- but it's 2016; are the people in Moscow really that stuck in the past? To look at the fat and happy citizens of the West and see an existential threat? I don't think the generation that demands "safe zones" from "microaggressions" is terribly likely to launch Operation Barbarossa II.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
>> Putin only got got his hands on Trump research.... Nothing on Hillary.
There were at least two foreign groups that owned the network. At least one grabbed the Trump material but there's also this rather shocking admission:
"The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system that they also were able to read all email and chat traffic, said DNC officials and the security experts."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-government-hackers-penetrated-dnc-stole-opposition-research-on-trump/2016/06/14/cf006cb4-316e-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html
Do a little reading and you'll find that the Chinese are busy stealing all of our technology and preparing themselves to take out our infrastructure (power-grid, banking, etc.). On the other front the Russians are actively engaging in political sabotage via all means from hordes of message forum trolls to active hacking. Don't think that the upcoming "Brexit" vote isn't being watched with great interest, and actively promoted by the Russians. I remember a few years ago Putin predicting that we'd be in a civil war here in the states by about now. Don't think for a moment that he doesn't have a bunch of shills working the interwebs for Russian interests in fomenting unrest and discontent right here and now.