Slashdot Mirror
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.
Oh, here we go ... Obama is apparently like an ancient Persian king; one cannot not simply reverse his dictates!
Donald 1337 Trumpxorz
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.
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.
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.
He's not really cool with it:
https://newrepublic.com/minute...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
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.
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.
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