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Russian Hackers Exploited Kaspersky Antivirus To Steal NSA Data on US Cyber Defense: WSJ (wsj.com)
An NSA contractor brought home highly classified documents that detailed how the U.S. penetrates foreign computer networks and defends against cyberattacks. The contractor used Kaspersky antivirus on his home computer, which hackers working for the Russian government exploited to steal the documents, the WSJ reported on Thursday (the link could be paywalled; alternative source), citing multiple people with knowledge of the matter. From the report: The hackers appear to have targeted the contractor after identifying the files through the contractor's use of a popular antivirus software made by Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, these people said. The theft, which hasn't been disclosed, is considered by experts to be one of the most significant security breaches in recent years. It offers a rare glimpse into how the intelligence community thinks Russian intelligence exploits a widely available commercial software product to spy on the U.S. The incident occurred in 2015 but wasn't discovered until spring of last year, said the people familiar with the matter. Having such information could give the Russian government information on how to protect its own networks, making it more difficult for the NSA to conduct its work. It also could give the Russians methods to infiltrate the networks of the U.S. and other nations, these people said. Ahead of the publication of WSJ report, Kaspersky founder Eugene Kaspersky tweeted, "New conspiracy theory, anon sources media story coming. Note we make no apologies for being aggressive in the battle against cyberthreats."
The problem here isn't Kaspersky and Russian hackers, they're just being opportunistic.
The REAL problem here is a dumb @$$ contractor who stole classified information and brought it home.
Why isn't the contractor, both company and employee, being punished for breach of secure information? Any other countries' spooks would want this info, including our allies.
Ahh that's right, let's just take this as an opportunity to bash Russia some more while our real enemy China is cleaning out both our industrial trade and military secrets! /sarcasm
Because of Hillary Clinton.... She E-mailed classified stuff around the planet on her personal E-mail server without so much as ROT 13 encryption... BUT.... James Comey decided that it wasn't a crime and announced to the world that he didn't think she could be charged because she had no intent to be careless.
If Hills can, why not this contractor? After all, it wasn't their INTENT to share it with the Russians and they presumably didn't E-mail it to anybody.
(Sarc off)
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
OK fanboys, I've got the popcorn out, what is your new excuse why they should still be trusted? The nonsense people said last week was so rich, I'm waiting for it to grow even more absurd today as the cognitive dissonance builds and blinds them to the quality of their arguments.
But but!
Russian face book ads! Russian campaign interference! The russian's hacked hillary's email!
RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA!
It's not surprising that US media is singling out anything Russian for criticism. Remember when the French wouldn't support the US' 2003 invasion of Iraq? All of a sudden we had "freedom fries" and the bad guys in Hollywood movies spoke with crappy French accents for a few years after. Now it's Russia's turn because the middle classes are pissed off at the working classes for voting in Trump. USA, grow up and take responsibility for your electoral choices. Russia didn't elect Trump, you did!
BTW, I remember looking into the efficacy of anti-virus software and finding out that in independent tests, the best one of the day only caught 85% of malware attacks. Then, there's the more recent stories of various well-known anti-virus software itself being vulnerable to attacks.
Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.