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Trump, Seeking To Relax Rules on US Cyberattacks, Reverses Obama Directive (wsj.com)

President Trump has reversed an Obama-era memorandum dictating how and when the U.S. government can deploy cyberweapons against its adversaries, in an effort to loosen restrictions on such operations [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], WSJ reports. From the report: Mr. Trump signed an order on Wednesday reversing the classified rules, known as Presidential Policy Directive 20, that had mapped out an elaborate interagency process that must be followed before U.S. use of cyberattacks, particularly those geared at foreign adversaries. The change was described as an "offensive step forward" by an administration official briefed on the decision, one intended to help support military operations, deter foreign election influence and thwart intellectual property theft by meeting such threats with more forceful responses. The Trump administration has faced pressure to show that it is taking seriously national-security cyberthreats -- particularly those that intelligence officials say are posed by Moscow.

72 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, here we go ... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh, here we go ... Obama is apparently like an ancient Persian king; one cannot not simply reverse his dictates!

    1. Re:Oh, here we go ... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's a good job America's cyber security is so famously top-notch, now that Trump has escalated and opened it up for retaliatory/preemptive attacks.

      Don't worry, I'm sure most critical systems have patched the leaked NSA/CIA vulnerabilities by now, so it's safe for the US to start deploying new ones. This time they won't lose control of them, for sure.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oh, here we go ... Obama is apparently like an ancient Persian king; one cannot not simply reverse his dictates!

      The problem isn't so much that Trump is reversing a policy of Obama.

      The problem is that Trump makes policy by shooting from the hip, with no consideration for the ramifications of it. Nobody does any analysis or planning, just suddenly there is a bad policy dumped one everyone.

      Now while saying there was no foreign interference, Trump is protecting us from foreign interference. Which is it? It never happened and we don't need to be protected? Or it did and Trump is still lying about it?

      The problem is other countries might decide this is an Unfriendly Act (which is diplomat speak for 'we don't like what you're doing and we're monitoring it'), and if escalates to a Hostile Act (which is diplomat speak for 'now we're really pissed off and things are going to get messy').

      Trump is essentially authorising hostile actions against foreign entities without oversight and planning.

      Shit like that can get dangerous in terms of relations between countries.

      The problems happen when Trump makes policy without consulting with the people who know what they're talking about (you know, 'elites') and instead relies on his own feels and stupidity.

    3. Re: Oh, here we go ... by omnichad · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What will make lots of people like me?

      Sex or cloning.

    4. Re:Oh, here we go ... by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trump is essentially authorising hostile actions against foreign entities without oversight and planning.

      More like Trump is explicitly telling other countries that it's OK to try and hack us. Because it goes both ways. It's like Net Neutrality. Before it existed, there might have been some general intellectual agreement about what was OK and what was not OK. After it was repealed, that's an explicit statement that doing the formerly banned things is explicitly OK. It doesn't revert back to undefined or there would be no motive to repeal.

    5. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Except, you know, for all the minor controversies around snooping on Merkel's cell phone and whatnot.

      Politics is a bloodsport. None of these people are good. Some of them are less bad. But don't delude yourself into thinking Your Guy was an uncommon gentleman.

    6. Re:Oh, here we go ... by GregMmm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll preface this comment by I'm not a huge President Trump supporter. But people need to know how to look at things objectively, outside their views.

      People are tired of the same rhetoric which is doing nothing. Yes this change can be dangerous, and yes it can be "messy". What was happening before is also dangerous and messy. Do nothing, and allow the bullies to have their way. Then we will say stop and the bullies laugh all the more.

      Why do you think President Trump was voted into office? It wasn't the Russians. Heavens knows we influence foreign governments much more. People are tired of the status quo. So change came in someone outside the political system.

      By the way, I like your vast assumptions in your comment. I suppose you know for a fact how "Trump shoots from the hip" Talked to him lately? You know the man? Also how you took President Trumps action from changing a policy (which is his job) to saying he's "essentially authorizing hostile actions without oversight or planning" Yup, he just changed a policy and now he's going rogue. Sounds like the same policy and political BS we hear everyday.

    7. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ok so by relaxing rules for cyber attacks Trump invites attacks? so if i load my shotgun and point it at you i'm inviting you to attack me? ( i do not own a shot gun )

    8. Re:Oh, here we go ... by omnichad · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Those rules made it clear we were classifying it like an act of war. Going back and saying it's OK implies that we are going to be aggressive and make offensive attacks. Put two and two together and we are the crazy third world country with an unstable dictator.

    9. Re:Oh, here we go ... by snapsnap · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Like DACA that was an Obama EO? A judge recently ruled Trump couldn't undo part of it with his own EO. What a ridiculous double-standard.

    10. Re:Oh, here we go ... by snapsnap · · Score: 4, Funny

      > he just changed a policy and now he's going rogue

      This is /. so we need a car analogy. So, by refusing to buy a new car, I'm obviously against the entire car industry.

    11. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why do you think President Trump was voted into office?

      Because he hoodwinked people into believing he was going to magically make everything better, and instead has installed his own cronies who spend thousands in unauthorised money on furniture or use their sirens to commute to work. He also put his kids into positions of power bypassing all relevant laws and vetting. He's completely surrounded himself with other crooks. Trump is the fucking swamp.

      By the way, I like your vast assumptions in your comment. I suppose you know for a fact how "Trump shoots from the hip" Talked to him lately?

      Dude, seriously? Have you been paying attention at all?

      Trump has dropped major policies via tweet, leaving the heads of the affected agencies going "we were not told about this or consulted and don't know how to do this". He literally doesn't plan out or consult on policies, just announces the fucking things via Twitter.

      And now he's on a program to silence the media, strip security clearances from critics, and generally do shit that piss-pot dictators do.

      You want objective? Trump lies about everything, offers his own alternative facts, doesn't believe in a free press, and leads by repeating the same bullshit to idiots who swallow it hook line and sinker. He's a series of fucking memes.

      Trump is actively working to undermine the checks and balances, and vilify anyone who disagrees with him. He's little better than any other despot, but people somehow think he's doing good work and protecting democracy.

      He's not interested in democracy, he's interested in his own ego and his own power.

    12. Re:Oh, here we go ... by StikyPad · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's hilarious. The scale of electronic collection operations increased dramatically under Obama. Or do you think the Utah Data Center was built for shits and giggles?

      But regardless, this is not/should not be a partisan issue, and one of the most compelling reasons to limit offensive operations and strengthen vulnerability disclosure rules is that we all use the same shit. If the NSA or other TLA is actively exploiting vulnerabilities in common platforms such as OSes, routers, or cellular infrastructure, then they are, by definition, leaving America's identical technology vulnerable to the exact same attacks by our adversaries. By leaving ourselves vulnerable, we are trading access to our own secrets -- from classified government information, to corporate trade secrets, to political party internals -- for access to information that we should reasonably be able to collect through other means. It's shooting ourselves in the foot and hoping the ricochet hits our enemies.

    13. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He was elected because he wasn't an insider. The people that voted for him love the cowboy attitude shoot from the hip. I for one love it. Watching the liberals squirm is awesome.

    14. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That logic is simply flawed though.
      If you have a bad CEO you don't hire someone with no experience in your business to be the new CEO...

    15. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Archtech · · Score: 1

      But since we all know that the NSA (and presumably other agencies among the alphabet soup) can make any attack look as if it was carried out by any chosen foreign nation, any foreign nation can now attack the USA in the certainty that no one can prove it was them - rather than the NSA trying to frame them with a false flag. (Although of course you could take the US government's word for it, because it never tells lies).

      They think they're clever, but they're not.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    16. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      Hey guys, did you hear? Trump is going to close down the Utah Data Center because Obama started it!

      Why, has it run out of space, is he going to build a bigger one somewhere else?

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    17. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I'll preface this comment by I'm not a huge President Trump supporter.

      Anyone who is a huge "President Anyone" supporter needs serious medication.

      I'm a huge supporter of ex French President- Francois Mitterand. Not because I liked him or his policies... it's just Francois Mitterand is the most fun name to same in the history of names... (if done correctly in a French Accent).

      I challenge anyone to come up with a more fun name to same than Francois Mitterand.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    18. Re:Oh, here we go ... by lurcher · · Score: 1

      "I challenge anyone to come up with a more fun name to same than Francois Mitterand."

      Boutros Boutros-Ghali

    19. Re:Oh, here we go ... by ScentCone · · Score: 1, Troll

      Now while saying there was no foreign interference, Trump is ...

      That's NOT what he's said, ever. He's been - the whole time - referring to the lefty canards that either he worked with the Russians to interfere with something, or that Russian activity actually changed the outcome of the election. That's substantially different than saying that the Russians didn't, in 2016, do exactly the same sort of dicking around in our public discourse just like they always have here and elsewhere.

      The investigators working this have now said, more than once, that the Russian activity didn't change the outcome of the election. And there hasn't been a single scrap of evidence that Trump was "working with the Russians" on anything remote connected to any of this. There is, though, now substantial evidence that the DNC and Hillary machine very much DID work with (and pay) foreign entities to work against her opponent, and that the fictional fruit of that effort was then used to launch surveillance on the Trump campaign under the direction of highly partisan DoJ/FBI management and others.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    20. Re:Oh, here we go ... by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      You are so full of shit! The idea that this will cause nation-state cyber attacks is pure sophistry. No, this would be in response to Russian cyber attacks against us, and thus deny the world a new queen, Hillary Clinton...

      Oh wait, that shit never happened. I guess you're right. Sorry, my bad.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    21. Re:Oh, here we go ... by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      U.S. companies and government agencies already get attacked all the time. Sometimes its actions by foreign governments, sometimes criminals looking to make a buck, or occasionally even just some bored hacker in the country doing it for the thrill. If you're naive enough to think anyone was holding back because of some rules we had in place, I've got a router in bridge mode to sell you.

    22. Re:Oh, here we go ... by khandom08 · · Score: 1

      I challenge anyone to come up with a more fun name to same than Francois Mitterand.

      Challenge accepted.
      Guy de Loimbard

    23. Re: Oh, here we go ... by Mnemennth · · Score: 1

      Well, the sex part ain't gonna happen with AC... unless you count necrophilia. Fortunately, that has a very low chance of creating offspring. Just like AC.

      mnem
      Go Team Venture!!!

    24. Re:Oh, here we go ... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      "I challenge anyone to come up with a more fun name to same than Francois Mitterand."

      Boutros Boutros-Ghali

      His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE.

      Talk about compensating.

      'Course his name might be fun, but he sure wasn't.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    25. Re:Oh, here we go ... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Whoops, forgot this last part:

      His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.

      He also claimed to be the uncrowned king of Scotland. Can you say 'unhinged?'

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    26. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Trump isn't completely random. Some people whisper into his ear first and then Trump shoots from the hip. Such as "hey, we could have stopped this Russian story before it began, if it weren't for the memo that Obama wrote", then Trump thinks "I can fix this!"

    27. Re:Oh, here we go ... by nwaack · · Score: 1

      Your mom?

    28. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hey guys, did you hear? Trump is going to close down the Utah Data Center because Obama started it!

      Why, has it run out of space, is he going to build a bigger one somewhere else?

      It'll be a YUUUUGE data center. Really classy. Marble doors and windows. Marble servers. Marble hard-drives.

      We have the best data.

    29. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 3

      By the way, I like your vast assumptions in your comment. I suppose you know for a fact how "Trump shoots from the hip" Talked to him lately? You know the man? Also how you took President Trumps action from changing a policy (which is his job) to saying he's "essentially authorizing hostile actions without oversight or planning" Yup, he just changed a policy and now he's going rogue. Sounds like the same policy and political BS we hear everyday.

      We have a president who very literally seems confused by what policies his own administration is following. That is not an exaggeration.

      Whether he goes "rogue" or not, a president who implements a great policy badly is probably going to be worse for the nation than a president to implements a mediocre policy reasonably well.

      The main effect of this Obama policy is to force the various departments to talk to each other before a significant change of policy that involves what is likely to be interpreted as a hostile action. I do not see why any competent president would find that a big burden. Of course, a completely incompetent president might find having to explain his own policy to people who are following trying to follow his directions a big burden -- that is clear.

    30. Re:Oh, here we go ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      People are tired of the status quo. So change came in someone outside the political system.

      I know, right. Last time I saw a rat I too burnt my entire house down.

    31. Re:Oh, here we go ... by tsa · · Score: 1

      You forgot all the gold that will be in there.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    32. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Yes they did. I suggest the OP at least watch Snowden for a very inside scoop on how that went down. But in fairness DOMESTIC electronic espionage was the biggest growth area under Obama while he put in policies reducing electronic espionage in foreign powers.

    33. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Yes, in the sense that your old malware scanner cleaned up THOUSANDS of infections!!!! Automated script kiddie attacks are what happen all the time. As a professional working in enterprise scale security I assure you, we have automated defenses and snake oil deployed and not in that order. The problem with tight security is that you'd need more dedicated security people than employees, they'd need to be experts on every single system of the dozens or hundreds deployed in your organization as well as with every scripting/programming language those systems speak, oh and of course they need to all be experts on those things from a security perspective, oh and they need to be black hats as well so they know about as many zero days as possible, oh and they all need to have permissions so restrictive that nobody can work, oh and they all need to know every aspect of the system they can correlate everything correctly, oh and they need to be heavily silo'd and divided so they can't see enough of the picture to be a risk...

      And THAT is why cyber security and defense is a fucking joke and everybody looks to have their drawers around their ankles when they come under scrutiny, there is no amount of money and effort that can accomplish it in a large organization, period. Cyber offense on the other hand is actually relatively easy.

    34. Re:Oh, here we go ... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      People love to watch professional wrestling too. Doesn't mean wrestlers make good leaders. Good politicians, maybe.

    35. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "The problem is that Trump makes policy by shooting from the hip, with no consideration for the ramifications of it. Nobody does any analysis or planning, just suddenly there is a bad policy dumped one everyone."

      And if there are problems you adjust the policy. People can't agree on anything and nobody is happy with the existing policy. He might have character flaws but he certainly hasn't actually done any worse than the last few. There is one thing different though, every good and bad move he makes is being narrated on the late show in a mocking voice and since he's been in office CNN has shown the same level of journalistic integrity of Rush and Hannity.

      "The problem is other countries might decide this is an Unfriendly Act (which is diplomat speak for 'we don't like what you're doing and we're monitoring it'), and if escalates to a Hostile Act (which is diplomat speak for 'now we're really pissed off and things are going to get messy')."

      No, they won't and they can't. Maybe you think it is bad form to throw our weight around but we DO have the military and economic weight to throw around. The biggest complainers are Europe but their opinions amount to hot air and have virtually zero impact on the US. They can't do anything more than talk very smugly and disapprovingly about us but more importantly their pomposity doesn't leave room for trying in the first place. The leaves Russia and China, the minute any of these three parties starts looking legitimately hostile without valid cause the other party will move to take advantage. At the end of the day we have enough military power to take on either and while they may or may not agree all three know the damage from the fight isn't worth it.

      Frankly the Russians are the last people we need to worry about. We had a relationship with Russian leaders throughout the cold war and on. The Russians know us and we know them. It's like VISA and Mastercard, one actually visibly winning would be bad for both and why when they can pretend adversity and use it secure more power domestically and abroad. Russia actually tried to help the US when Obama's expanded off shore drilling resulted in the decimation of the Gulf of Mexico. Russian alleged "interference" in the elections was mostly just revealing a bunch of crooked stuff one party and candidate was up to... that is hardly malicious and thanks to citizens united there was definitely at least as much interference from other countries using corporate financial interests to dump money in Clinton's superpac and likely tech companies overtly working to benefit her.

    36. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      You do if every CEO comes out of a set of ivy league CEO factories that churn out as many flavors as there are McNugget shapes. Trumps purpose is to be steel wire tossed into the CEO stamper, his purpose is to break the damn machine and thereby disrupt the stranglehold of not only the shapes but the factory as well. We don't have to beat them entirely, we just have to disrupt their system enough to screw up their plans.

      I didn't vote for Trump but I do understand the people who did... the 49% of the country who aren't from the cities or educated in them.

    37. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      If "You had a stable democracy which was improving incrementally." That wouldn't be a problem.

    38. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      If the GP essentially saying "he isn't actually Hitler or Vlad's bitch" has become "praise him profusely" I think you seriously need to re-calibrate your bias meter before going around judging what is and is not "appear reasonable."

    39. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "Liberals believe people are generally good, and want to encourage cooperation.
      Conservatives think people are generally bad, and want to focus on protecting themselves."

      Actually one side pretends people are generally good and says avoiding trusting those who advocate that idea with lots of central power to do good is crazy and paranoid. The other exploits paranoia built on the simple but blindingly obvious truth that everyone doesn't need to be bad if anyone is bad it is a bad idea to leave your door open for them. Both want you terrified and extreme because terrified and extreme people have a hard time banding together and since both groups are two sides a single coin in power their constituents coming together in the numbers required to do something else is a terrifying thought.

      Why do you think you started hearing that Trump was a dictator on CNN before he even had sworn in? Why do you think Colbert goes on the late show (which is normally neutral politically) and narrates even sensible actions on the part of Trump with an idiot voice and sneer? Trump isn't one of us, he is a rich asshole who never had to become more socially mature than every rich asshole was in the 80's, but he also clearly isn't one of them. Anything he screws up is just collateral damage.

    40. Re:Oh, here we go ... by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 1

      Or it may prevent some attacks just by announcing this new rule and not doing anything else different. From the perspective of an attacking nation with means and something to gain or lose, they may see removal of "be nice" rules as a slightly increased risk of retaliation.

    41. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      People are tired of the same rhetoric which is doing nothing.

      It's better than actively and shamelessly making things worse.

      Why do you think President Trump was voted into office?

      Hillary. Yes, that was the Democrats' own fault, but still... out of millions of people, that was the best they could offer?

    42. Re:Oh, here we go ... by quantaman · · Score: 1

      I'll preface this comment by I'm not a huge President Trump supporter. But people need to know how to look at things objectively, outside their views.

      Objectively, he's lost the benefit of the doubt. He's started stripping people of security clearances for saying mean things about him. I have no confidence that any action he takes is for the good of the US, nor that he's given it any serious analytical thought.

      I see two main reasons for this policy, one it's reversing an "Obama policy", which seems to be a main objective in its own right. And second, some advisor said it was a good and necessary thing. The problem there is the advisor has their own possibly narrow view of things, and their advice might not be the best direction for the country.

      People are tired of the same rhetoric which is doing nothing. Yes this change can be dangerous, and yes it can be "messy". What was happening before is also dangerous and messy.

      You know what makes it more dangerous and messy? Having a temperamental child who can't digest more than a page of very basic analysis make strategic decisions.

      Why do you think President Trump was voted into office? It wasn't the Russians. Heavens knows we influence foreign governments much more. People are tired of the status quo.

      Republicans nominated him because they were tired of the status quo, probably because their status quo really really sucked.

      Trump then beat Clinton in the general election because of the electoral college, the FBI investigation into her email server, her IT guy making a really stupid decision deleting emails, Russian Hacking of the DNC, Russian hacking of John Podesta, Comey making the bizarre decision to announce he was "reopening" the investigation a week before the election because of Anthony Weiner, and Clinton herself, being an exceptional networker but a worse campaigner than a mouldy ham sandwich.

      Kerry or Gore would have cleaned Trump's clock, Obama would have trounced him utterly, but against Clinton... he got a narrow win.

      So change came in someone outside the political system.

      By the way, I like your vast assumptions in your comment. I suppose you know for a fact how "Trump shoots from the hip" Talked to him lately? You know the man?

      Have you been following the mainstream media? If you remember what they say and then see what actually happens you'll realize it's not actually fake. If it were anyone else he'd already be impeached or relieved of command via the 25th amendment. Unfortunately it's undemocratic for removing a president for being a ridiculous manchild when that was already apparent before the election.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    43. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Archtech · · Score: 1

      In the context of this thread, I meant "any US president".

      One good enough reason:

      https://chomsky.info/1990____-...

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    44. Re:Oh, here we go ... by Mnemennth · · Score: 1

      Good lord... who in the hell wasted a mod point on this? Couldn't you be arsed to find a real troll to burn them on?

    45. Re:Oh, here we go ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Oh yes, ~half the population are redneck retards.

    46. Re:Oh, here we go ... by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Let those pieces of shit fail and in 2020 we can finally move forward as the GOP will be completely fucking destroyed and its supporters will be destitute.

      The GOP, as it existed before, is completely gone. The people who used to either swear by Reagan, or just push the establishment, first lost in 2016, and this year, in more places than not, have been swept aside by MAGA candidates. Today, to win a GOP primary in most places, one has to be supportive of Trump, rather than the likes of Ryan, McConnell, McCain or Sass. By 2020, all the establishment Republicans who live on hostility to Russia and the no-tariffs ideology should be sleeping w/ the fishes

    47. Re:Oh, here we go ... by unixisc · · Score: 1

      China, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Mexico are far greater problems than Russia

  2. Hack the planet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Donald 1337 Trumpxorz

  3. Re:So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Russ by Comboman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Obama had done something to stop Russian election meddling, Trump and his supporters would have flipped out and claimed he was fixing the election for Hillary. They already Obama was "spying" on them because he was investigating the Russian meddling.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
  4. Re: So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Rus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Nope, Trump is pretending to do something. Thus is just grandstanding that accomplishes nothing.

    Just like he already did with North Korea.

    Meanwhile, he fumes at European allies, lies about Canada and Mexico, and can't take responsibility for his lies or even his child detainment centers.

  5. thwart intellectual property theft by omnichad · · Score: 1

    thwart intellectual property theft

    Really? Our military is going on the offensive to help Disney? Don't they have enough money and resources to take care of themselves?

    1. Re:thwart intellectual property theft by shaitand · · Score: 1

      The government has never hesitated to go on the offensive to protect the copyright cartels before... why would it be different now?

  6. This is why we shouldn't use American software by johnsie · · Score: 1

    Too dangerous.

  7. Bullshit: He is jealous of the black man by DogDude · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is a load of horse shit. Everybody knows that Trump just wants to undo everything that Obama did (good or bad), because he hates that a black president was more successful and, more importantly, more popular that that piece of shit will ever be.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  8. Re:So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Russ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What are you talking about - Obama said he directly talked to Putin and told him to cut it out before the 2016 election. You mean that didn't work?!?

    Obama says he told Putin to ‘cut it out’ on Russia hacking

    President Barack Obama said Friday that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in September to “cut it out” in regard to allegations that his nation engaged in cyberattacks against the U.S. electoral process. Obama added that further hacking by Russia did not occur following Obama’s admonition.

  9. Trump says he can recognize Crimea as Russian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And the GOP House? Can Trump simply ignore *those* dictates? Because the McCain Defense Authorization Bill, requires he cannot accept Russian soverignty of Crimea, and the first thing he did was annul that clause with a signing statement.

    "President Donald Trump said in a statement he reserves the right to ignore the defense authorization law’s ban on U.S. recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, among 50 other provisions he says tread on his authority as president.,....Trump objected to four of eight provisions focused on Russia. For example, the law would limit the use of federal funds to recognize Russian control over Crimea, "

    https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2018/08/14/trump-signals-he-may-ignore-russia-provisions-in-defense-bill-he-just-signed/

    To be clear, this is a Republican House asserting the USA's position on Russia, that's he's reversing. It's not partisan, it's Trump vs American interests.

    Can I remind you that Wagner, the Russian contractor that attacked the US position Al Tabiyeh, in Syria had Kremlin authorization, according to intercepted communications. So we're not just as some sort of vague fluffy cyber war with Russia, they are actively attacking military positions too.

    Meanwhile a few traitors from the GOP, who thankfully do not represent the majority, visit Putin seeking help in the upcoming elections. Two visit so far, with GOP people promising *not* to vote for further sanctions, no matter how bad Russia is. I'm sure US troops don't feel stabbed in the back by that as Russia troops fire missiles at them.

    Yeh we get it, it's election time and they'll do anything to get power, even side with US enemies. Traitors.

  10. Re:Next up, Trump reverses nuclear war rules by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2

    He's not really cool with it:

    https://newrepublic.com/minute...

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  11. Re: So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Rus by gtall · · Score: 1

    Hey, we need to protect the U.S. from people coming over here and wanting to be Americans...the nerve of those ungrateful bastards. Americans are just jumping at the bit to take those jobs they wouldn't touch in the past because...because....Trump wants them to....Make America Great Again. The again seems to be the circa 1950 again, what a wonderful time to be non-white in America.

  12. pistolwhipped.exe by MJhasHIV · · Score: 1

    what

  13. Meaningless by Archtech · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the first place, all such self-denying laws and regulations are honoured in the breech. They look good to the peasants and the outside world, but the executive agencies simply ignore them when they are inconvenient. For many years there was a presidential policy against assassinating foreign leaders! During which period countless such plots were hatched and carried out - with occasional success.

    In the second place, there is only one real deterrent to using any weapon against foreign powers - retaliation. The USA has by far the biggest and most fragile house of cards when it comes to IT infrastructure. Americans are living in the largest, most elaborate glasshouse ever constructed, so it wouldn't be smart for them to start throwing rocks at people who live in mud huts or concrete blockhouses. (And who have plenty of nice big rocks to throw back).

    --
    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    1. Re:Meaningless by dwpro · · Score: 1

      As always, reality is more complicated. US houses are not all glass and no-one has a concrete IT blockhouse (STUXNET anyone?). I see utility in small scale IT brush-backs. It's all part of the espionage chess match.

      --
      Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
  14. Re: So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Rus by MoralCharacter · · Score: 1

    By 'his' detainment centers, surely you mean 'Reagan's detainment centers'. Because he's the one who authorized them in the first place. Meaning everyone from Bush to Obama left them in place - but now all of a sudden it's 'Trumps detainment centers'? There have been detainment facilities specifically for the US-Mexico border since 1981, which was part of Reagan's War on Drugs. They also aren't the only ones we have - none of them particularly new. The Haitian detainment centers come to mind, built specifically to detain refugees. 1981 as well - but this was more Carter's doing.
    I get you're not happy with Trump, but telling lies isn't going to make opposing him any easier - if anything it'll only undermine you.

  15. Re:People with glass houses... by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 1

    ...go on to record Uptown Girl?

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  16. We are deceived by language and metaphor. by dweller_below · · Score: 2

    We use the words: cyberweapon, cyberwar, and cyberattack and think that we know the consequences of conflict. But our prior experience with conflict deceive us. Our instincts are wrong. Our sports metaphors delude us. We undervalue defense. We greatly overvalue attack. At the core, we still believe that Internet warfare is win-able. We believe that victory will go to the righteous aggressor. We believe that attack is sexy and desirable.

    The reality is, Internet attack is like poisoning all sources of water, and hoping that your enemy dies first. There is no "Win" in "CyberWar". We all have to defend the same stuff. None of us have functional defenses. Every successful attack weakens us all.

    It is easy to capture, analyze and reproduce somebody else's attack. If somebody drops a bomb on you, it is hard to reassemble all the bits, unburn the chemicals, and reuse it. But, if a government deploys an Internet attack, it is easy to copy the attack and repurpose it. When the US deploys an Internet attack, we give our enemies the motive, means, and opportunity to destroy us.

  17. Re: Lacks the Mental Ability - Game Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Hahaha...

    Well, he knew how to air drop $1.6 billion dollars to our worst enemy under cover of night, in unmarked bills, from an unmarked plane.

    Fantastic advisors!

  18. Re:So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Russ by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    If Obama had done something to stop Russian election meddling

    Which is about as troubling as Obama's "failure" to stop a magic man from flying around on a sled on Christmas, breaking into people's houses every year. You know, something else that is pure fantasy with no connection to reality.

  19. As long as it is really foreign targets... good by shaitand · · Score: 1

    Too often that part of things like this is "intention" and not hard coded into the directives and policies. I want the rules to explicitly block the things the potential uses that aren't part the justification/spin tyvm.

  20. What Kool-Aid are you drinking? by DogDude · · Score: 1

    I suppose you know for a fact how "Trump shoots from the hip" Talked to him lately? You know the man?

    Are you fucking kidding? Are you a Russian troll? Have you ever seen the man try to speak? Everything he does is "Shoot from the hip." If you think he makes calm, calculated decisions about policy, you've must have a screw loose, yourself, I'm sorry to say.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  21. Re:So Trump is actually DOING SOMETHING about Russ by quantaman · · Score: 2

    What are you talking about - Obama said he directly talked to Putin and told him to cut it out before the 2016 election. You mean that didn't work?!?

    Obama says he told Putin to ‘cut it out’ on Russia hacking

    President Barack Obama said Friday that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in September to “cut it out” in regard to allegations that his nation engaged in cyberattacks against the U.S. electoral process. Obama added that further hacking by Russia did not occur following Obama’s admonition.

    What else could Obama do? Obama asked McConnell to issue a joint statement condemning Russia's election meddling and McConnell refused.

    McConnell deliberately obstructed the defence to an attack on his nation's electoral foundations. When this is all said and done McConnell should be sitting in a cell next to Trump.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  22. Re:Excuses And Lame Justifications by shaitand · · Score: 1

    Love killing the messenger much?

    "3). Soft on Russian aggression. "The Russians know us and we know them." Wow, by this logic, every dictatorship is A-OK!"

    By this logic every nation we interact with has to governed and have the same moral, ethical, and philosophical ideals we do. Talk about isolationist. A democracy can be worse than a dictatorship but that doesn't really matter, when talking about whether we want to deal with a government what matters is leverage and mutual interests and those thing have pretty much nothing to do with social issues.

    "By undermining Europe, by undermining NATO"

    NATO is US. You do know that right? NATO is our political tool we drag it out with only token gestures required from other countries so we can claim our global political actions are multi-national efforts.

    "What exactly would you call this right wing American attitude towards the Europeans? Sounds pompous to me."

    A common attitude in Europe is to avoid admitting ignorance so you can create the false appearance of knowing more than you do, combined with the assertion you should always know the answer and therefore it isn't false. That is hubris and pompousity. Pretending superiority on the basis of education rather than actual intelligence is hubris, there are plenty educated idiots in the world and poorly educated genuises. Would you have tossed aside Einsteins paper if he'd misspelled words, mixed up a political timeline, or admitted to not being familiar with the location of a river halfway across the world? If so, you are pompous as well.

  23. Fry 'em! by iq145 · · Score: 1

    i say anyone who tampers with the internet used in the U.S. should burn for it. That's how important it's become to regular every-day life...