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.

Comments

Re:Stupid facebook

[TigerPlish]

is in no part a "national security" or otherwise strategic resource.

A single place full of people's likes and dislikes, vacation schedules, who's in their circles of friends and famlies, what car they own, where they live.. pictures and vids of all of the above and more.... none of this is strategic?

It's very strategic, just not to the normal, well-adjusted human. But for thieves, conmen, and anyone interested in gathering intel on a target? Pricelessly strategic.

Nice Attempt...

[Thelasko]

...but most of the damage is done in the weeks leading up to the election. Shutting them down on election day is too late.

Doesn't pass the sniff test

[guruevi]

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.