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Home Front: Politix
US official: Russia 'hacked' 21 US states in election
2017-06-22
[BBC] Russian hackers targeted election systems in 21 US states during last year's campaign, said a US official.

Jeanette Manfra of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refused to identify the states during her testimony before a Senate panel, citing confidentiality agreements.

But she added there was no evidence to suggest actual vote ballots were altered in the election hack.
It sounds like they didn't actually hack anything, they either tried and failed or it was just a series of probes.
US intelligence agencies believe Moscow interfered to help Donald Trump win.

Ms Manfra, the department's acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security, testified on Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election.

"As of right now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were targeted," she told the panel.

She said DHS still had confidence in the US voting system because they are "fundamentally resilient".
Posted by:Seeking cure for ignorance

#20  What if the DHS probed computers in 21 states and made it look like the Russians did it? The Vault #7 release indicated the CIA can actually initiate cyber attacks on US systems and leave “fingerprints” to suggest to forensics experts that the attacks came from a foreign power, even the Russian Federation.

The purpose would be two-fold:
1. Set up the narrative that Trump election team was in cahoots with Russia.
2. Set things up so that DHS would declare voting processes and voting machine were a part of "critical infra-structure" and centralize/nationalize control of voting under the Federal government. It would be much easier to control the outcome of future elections.

Of course these are just hypotheticals.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-06-22 22:01  

#19  So DHS works with Putin?

They've left themselves open for that. Given that history shows the American intel community to be somewhat incompetent in identifying those who worked for Russian intel within their own ranks.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-06-22 17:55  

#18  Has our intel community devised a method to determine who the hackers are no matter what IP address is associated with the hack? Or did our own spooks hack the Russians to get this purported evidence?
 you're running down the rabbit hole they dug for you. The IC is part of the Deep State. Attempting to 'divine' motive is pointless. We know what the motive is
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2017-06-22 14:49  

#17  Remember the States Accuse DHS Account of Hacking?
Posted by: magpie   2017-06-22 13:39  

#16  I'd love to know the forensics used to define the hackers as 'Russian'.

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\russians-wer-hear.txt
Posted by: SteveS   2017-06-22 13:32  

#15  Many years ago this was true. Now Hacking is a catchall term for anything that involves a computer that you don't like.

Just like the definition of racism used to be specific; now it includes anything a white person says about a non-white person, etc.
Posted by: Raj   2017-06-22 13:30  

#14  Reminds me of Jimmy Carter's 'lusting in his heart' and believing that was the same thing as committing the deed.
Posted by: Bobby   2017-06-22 13:20  

#13  "Asof right now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were targeted," she told the panel.

Targeting is not the same as actual hacking. But this is the BBC and the reporter is an idiot.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2017-06-22 11:11  

#12  I'd love to know the forensics used to define the hackers as 'Russian'.

Wouldn't we all? But that's classified. It's a deep, dark secret.

Even Putin knows, and has said so, that a hacker's IP address can be spoofed. So, assuming the intel community really does have solid evidence the Russians hacked the election, it must be some evidence other than IP addresses. What that evidence could be is the key question. Has our intel community devised a method to determine who the hackers are no matter what IP address is associated with the hack? Or did our own spooks hack the Russians to get this purported evidence?

People like James Clapper may say they believe Moscow interfered in our election to help Trump but then, they say all kinds of things. What they really believe is a whole other matter and as long as they say their evidence is a secret we just have to trust them. That's the hard part and it's getting harder all the time.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2017-06-22 10:55  

#11  True - today's use of hacking simply means manipulation. For me, hacking has meant the defeat of a closed system - whatever that system is. To distinguish a hack from manipulation, the hack is completed in 2 phases very similar to mechanized warfare: breakthrough and exploitation phases where the system is compromised in 'breakthrough' usually via data injection, and then access gained for 'exploitation'. The act is deliberate and not dependent on 2nd party input. This is why email phishing is not hacking.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2017-06-22 10:04  

#10  so, the other 36 states were OK?
Posted by: Frank G   2017-06-22 10:02  

#9  Hacking used to mean doing something or overcoming some problem in an innovative way - and not just for computers but about anything. And a hacker was someone who did such things routinely.
The media has corrupted it first to mean 'breaking into a computer or software' and called even script kiddies 'hackers' and now it means 'doing something with a computer we don't like'.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2017-06-22 09:02  

#8   Hacking means changing code in some way or taking data.

Many years ago this was true. Now Hacking is a catchall term for anything that involves a computer that you don't like. Asking for someone's password and using it is hacking to some in the Demo party.
Posted by: AlanC   2017-06-22 08:50  

#7  I am getting tired of this statement: US intelligence agencies believe Moscow interfered to help Donald Trump win.

How would *you* cross-examine such a statement?
Posted by: Bobby   2017-06-22 08:18  

#6  So the Dems and DHS knew about the so-called cyber-attacks on 21 States by the Russians as early as the Spring and Summer of 2016 and they did nothing about it. What were they waiting for? They thought Hillary was going to win and chose not to do anything about it.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-06-22 08:00  

#5  Hacking means changing code in some way or taking data. So what was done to constitute 'hacking'? Probably a big fat nothing. Just unauthorized access attempts.
Posted by: phil_b   2017-06-22 03:27  

#4  First of all, she is wrong. All 50 states experience hacking attempts. As well as any other device that is assigned an internet IP address. Hackers have the tools to probe every IP address on the planet. Firewalls, security logs that log those attempts, etc. have been around since before Windows NT.

This is garbage leftist propaganda.
Posted by: Crelet Bucket3272   2017-06-22 02:42  

#3  Jeanette Manfra of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refused to identify the states during her testimony before a Senate panel, citing confidentiality agreements.

Because she just chose "21", for narrative reasons?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2017-06-22 01:29  

#2  Mr Liles told Congress DHS detected hacking activities last spring and summer and later received reports of cyber probing of election systems

I'd love to know the forensics used to define the hackers as 'Russian'.
Posted by: Pappy   2017-06-22 00:40  

#1  Hard to hack paper and purple fingers.

Just sayin'....
Posted by: DarthVader   2017-06-22 00:03  

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