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US Cyber Command Operation Disrupted Internet Access of Russian Troll Factory on Day of 2018 Midterms: Report (washingtonpost.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: The U.S. military blocked Internet access to an infamous Russian entity seeking to sow discord among Americans during the 2018 midterms, several U.S. officials said, a warning that the group's operations against the United States are not cost-free. The strike on the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, a company underwritten by an oligarch close to President VladiÂmir Putin, was part of the first offensive cyber campaign against Russia designed to thwart attempts to interfere with a U.S. election, the officials said. "They basically took the IRA offline," according to one individual familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified information. "They shut 'em down." The operation marked the first muscle-flexing by U.S. Cyber Command, with intelligence from the National Security Agency, under new authorities it was granted by President Trump and Congress last year to bolster offensive capabilities.

2 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Doesn't pass the sniff test by guruevi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A bit more detail would be nice. Did they shut down the Internet on Russian territory? Probably not, that'd be some hot potato if they were found. If they blocked the IP on the US-side, there are plenty of proxies both in and out of the US to work through.

    Either these trolls are very stupid and don't know anything about how the Internet works or this is just another story about how someone blocked an IP address and thinks they saved the world.

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  2. Re: Huh? by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Mueller's investigation was suppose to find out whether or not Trump "colluded" with Russia during the campaign

    Actually, if you look it up, the relevant excerpt is: [The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct an investigation into..]

    (b) ..
    (i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and
    (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and
    (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. 600.4(a).
    (c) If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters.
    (d) Sections 600.4 through 600.10 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations are applicable to the Special Counsel.

    So, yeah, whatever conspiracies the president and his team joined with Russia against the USA, fall under Mueller's authorization. And also, any other crimes that you uncover while taking to witnesses or seizing evidence, which have turned out to be many. So the president's crimes, his family's crimes and his campaign staff crimes are all fair game. Trump failed to compartmentalize his criminal enterprises. Even John Gotti was a smarter crook than this fuckwit. Trump needs to watch Kansas City Confidential and Reservoir Dogs, not just Sicario.

    The only problem is that "collusion" is not a crime without an underlying illegal act.

    As you can see now, they're only interested in all the illegal acts. It was never about "collusion," since the investigations had already moved far beyond that, even before Mueller was appointed.

    Even the democrats acknowledged early on that there is no evidence that Russia's actions effected the actual voting process.

    Apparently Mueller is one of those Republican cops, who all think that if you shoot your rifle at someone and miss, you'll still be charged with assault or attempted murder. The Democrats have totally failed to get through to him. All the fucker seems to care about is fighting crime.

    (I think what's confusing you is that you've forgotten Trump's motive. Why did he conspire against America? The answer: he did it for the money. He did it to steal from America, and also to take bribes from foreign government to influence the Us government to do things for them instead of us, in any situations where our interests conflict with other countries'. He did it to help him commit further crimes against you and me. So nobody really cares whether or not Russia's help was effective. He conspired to attack America for profitable reasons, so he's going to eventually be prosecuted for the conspiracy.)

    Even the democrats agree that so far the indictments Mueller has filed have absolutely nothing to do with Trump colluding with Russia which was the entre purpose of the investigation.

    Yes. Even us non-Democrats agree to that. See item (b)(ii) and (c) above. Since so many of Trump's staff and family have committed other crimes in the attempt to cover up the conspiracy, and since they were so easily caught, they've given Mueller a gift to use, to roll them up. (Crooks don't usually make things this easy, but Mueller was fortunate to be charged with investigating some unusually stupid crooks.) The conspiracy with the Russians against America is Mueller's end game. Whether those charges will be the final charges he files, we don't know. But it's the main act, and everyone is looking forward to it. (The problem, of course, is that the president himself is one of the criminal conspirators, and sending presidents to prison is hard.)

    Personally I do not think this entire

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