CIA Prepping For Possible Cyber Strike Against Russia (nbcnews.com)

Slashdot reader schwit1 reports that the Obama administration "is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election," according to U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to NBC News: Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership. The sources did not elaborate on the exact measures the CIA was considering, but said the agency had already begun opening cyber doors, selecting targets and making other preparations for an operation. Former intelligence officers told NBC News that the agency had gathered reams of documents that could expose unsavory tactics by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vice President Joe Biden told "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd on Friday that "we're sending a message" to Putin and that "it will be at the time of our choosing, and under the circumstances that will have the greatest impact." When asked if the American public will know a message was sent, the vice president replied, "Hope not."
Not mounting a response would weaken U.S. credibility, one senior U.S. official said, while others said hundreds of millions of dollars has been allocated to the team mounting the attacks. Thursday US officials familiar with the investigation told CNN there was "mounting evidence" that Russia was supplying leaked emails to WikiLeaks, and last week in a conference call organized by the Clinton campaign, former Acting CIA Director Mike Morrell said it was "absolutely clear... WikiLeaks and Guccifer 2 are working with the Russians on this."

Comments

For them theoretically hacking a private org?

[ArtemaOne]

We're really escalating toward what could become war over completely unproven allegations that Russia hacked a private organization like the DNC? This wasn't even a hack of the real government. This is pure insanity.

Re:For them theoretically hacking a private org?

[bigfinger76]

Because we've yet to be shown a single shred of evidence to back up the claim. Statements by 'anonymous government sources' don't count.

Re:For them theoretically hacking a private org?

[bigfinger76]

If you're claiming that evidence exists, then the burden of proof falls on you.
If no evidence is forthcoming, then your claim is baseless. We owe it to ourselves to demand proof before stirring the pudding. Especially after Iraq.
How soon we forget.

Re:For them theoretically hacking a private org?

[ZenShadow]

Calling people who want proof "trolls" is the oldest trick in the book. It's the sign of a completely unsupportable position.

We're talking about an act of war against a nuclear state that can actually attack us on our home soil if they so choose. If an American citizen doesn't want to see at least some evidence of WHY we're committing an act of war against that state, then they're an idiot.

And "The government said so" is not the same as proof. That's like saying "My favorite politician is honest!".

Re:For them theoretically hacking a private org?

[ZenShadow]

Hillary was trumpeting "But Russia!" the day of the leak, before any investigation could possibly have taken place.

To use your police analogy, sure, maybe Russia can benefit -- and that gives us motive. In police terms, that's enough to possibly get a search warrant (a bit thin, really), but not to arrest you or throw you in jail, let alone convict you of a criminal offense.

Right now it's going something like this:

Hillary: "Hey, Joe Bob can benefit from stealing my car, he must've done it!"
Me: "But where's your proof that Joe Bob actually stole your car?"
Hillary: "Joe Bob did it!"
Me: "Where was Joe Bob on the day your car was stolen?"
Hillary: "Joe Bob!"
Newspapers: "Joe Bob! Joe Bob! Joe Bob!"
Citizens: "Joe Bob! Joe Bob! Joe Bob!"

Meanwhile, Joe Bob is a few thousand miles away vacationing in Hawaii, where he's been this whole time, and Hillary's car is actually in her neighbor's garage, and they're letting people come look at it. They moved it there because she forgot to lock it, and they don't like her, so they want the public to see the deplorable state she's kept it in.

And to the other poster on this, yeah, this is not a partisan issue. This is a "someone is trying to put us on a collision course with Russia" issue. If they're going to do that, they damn well need to provide evidence that Russia is the bad actor here. Motive is not even remotely close to evidence. I've not seen anything that lends even the slightest bit of credibility to the claim.

That someone can, or might want to does not in any way mean that they did.

must be a new meaning for 'clandestine'

[Black Parrot]

since we're talking about it before it happens.

I'm with Snowden

[Dunbal]

"is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia"

Usually the first step in covert actions is you don't tell anyone. Especially not the enemy.

Don't vote for the Underwoods

[lucm]

That's what you get when you elect people who see the federal government as their personal army. And yet that s nothing compared to what would happen under Clnton.

Yeah, let's all get our panties in a bunch over the buffoon and his crude behavior and lack of class, meanwhile the spawn of Satan is getting ready to go back to the White House to monetize the presidency again. Who cares if American lives are lost in the process, as long as it's not her princess she doesn't care. There's already a trail of corpses behind that couple that makes Gacy look like Mother Teresa.

Further

[s.petry]

The claim defies history and basic reasoning. Wikileaks gained notoriety by publishing a shit-ton of information from a US Soldier fed up with the system. The Guardian (now looks like a leftist rag) gained notoriety by publishing a shit-ton of information from a NSA contractor fed up with the system. Obama has jailed a record 31 Whistle blowers during his term so far, and wanted a 32nd in jail who fled to Russia. They also want Assange in jail or dead. Make it 33.

The DNC leak is thought to be attributed to the person killed in the Robbery where nothing was Stolen. We have countless people working in Federal law enforcement fed up with the system who are forced to leak information for fear of being jailed or worse. The damages from these dumps are not anti-America, they are anti-corrupt politician. Russian gains nothing from seeing Hillary lie, they probably laugh and think "just like us".

Write your Congress and Senate representatives and demand a halt to any action. It could be blowing smoke, but given the massive amount of visible corruption I'm not so sure. I sure as hell don't trust Obama or Clinton who have on numerous occasions stated that they want to censor web sites "they" find unfavorable. Consider that the US is currently bombing Yemen without any public inspection of policy and media refuses to talk about it. They are way too busy fabricating false victims to smear Trump to talk about the real world.