Posted by Fancy Bear on Mon, 26 Dec 2016 01:47 | #

Vice News, “Who was behind the hack?” 22 Dec 2016:

The Russian government almost certainly hacked the DNC, security company says.

A new report appears to confirm that the hackers behind the July attack on the Democratic National Committee servers are deeply embedded within the Russian government and work closely with the Russian military.

The report from U.S. security company CrowdStrike details how the group — known as Fancy Bear — used malware to strike the DNC. They linked this malware to other malware used to hack an app employed by the Ukrainian military. Fancy Bear was then able to use the app to spy on the location of Ukrainian forces during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

CrowdStrike is the same company the DNC hired to investigate the breach of its servers earlier this year. The company had previously said it was moderately confident in attributing the attack to the Russian government, but with this new intelligence, it’s now “highly confident.”

The report states: “The collection of such tactical artillery force positioning intelligence by Fancy Bear further supports CrowdStrike’s previous assessments that Fancy Bear is likely affiliated with the Russian military intelligence (GRU), and works closely with Russian military forces operating in Eastern Ukraine and its border regions in Russia.”

All the U.S. intelligence agencies have fingered the Kremlin for the DNC attacks, accusing it of interfering in the U.S. election by stealing sensitive emails that were subsequently published by WikiLeaks — though Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently denied those allegations.

President-elect Donald Trump — who called on Russian hackers to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails during his campaign — has called the allegations against Russia “ridiculous” and says that they undermine the credibility of the CIA after it agreed with the FBI’s conclusion that the Kremlin was behind the attacks.

“I think seeing the same tools [that were used against the DNC] used in the Ukraine, it is definitely a government agency in Russia….that is reporting directly to the Kremlin,” Sean Sullivan, a security expert from F-Secure, told VICE News.

Sullivan points out that because the malicious version of the app collected location data, whoever was behind the attack would have needed direct connections to the military in order to act on the information it gathered.

The Android app was developed by a Ukrainian military officer named Yaroslav Sherstuk. It was designed to speed up the processing of targeting data for the Soviet-era D-30 Howitzers he was using. The app helped reduce the time it took the gun to fix a target from minutes to under 15 seconds. Sherstuk distributed the app among Ukrainian military personnel and in a video talking about the app’s success, he claimed it was used by 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel.

Russian intelligence agencies actively monitor social media channels related to the Ukraine conflict, including VKontakte — the Russian equivalent of Facebook — and CrowdStrike says it was here where the Kremlin first took notice of the app, after it was promoted by its author in 2013.

This led to the development of a malicious version of the app by the Fancy Bear hacking group, which it then distributed on a Russian-language Ukrainian military forum from December 2014.

CrowdStrike was unable to find conclusive evidence of the app being used to directly target the D-30 Howitzers, but it did cite open-source data that shows that in the last two years — the period the malicious version of the app was available — the Ukrainian military lost 80 percent of its D-30 Howitzers, the highest percentage of loss of artillery pieces in Ukraine’s arsenal.

“The ability of this malware to retrieve communications and gross locational data from an infected device makes it an attractive way to identify the general location of Ukrainian artillery forces and engage them,” the report says.

Despite the high-profile nature of these attacks, Sullivan believes the media attention won’t stop the Fancy Bear hacking group from doing what it does.

“They have been using [the malware] for several years, and every time something gets discovered, they just make a new version of it and keep going — I don’t think they are going to slow down any time soon.”

He added that in 2017 we are likely to see a move away from the U.S. and onto other targets. “I think they are going to shift from the U.S. to Europe, and I think Europe should be on the lookout for activity related to the German and French elections.”

Posted by FBI backs CIA's assessment on Tue, 27 Dec 2016 08:06 | #

PBS, Frontline, 23 Dec 2016:

Reports about Russian meddling in the U.S. election had been building for months, with leaks from U.S. intelligence officials and ominous warnings from Democratic lawmakers. Though the Trump campaign and some in Congress have voiced doubts, U.S. intelligence agencies now agree that Russia was behind the hacks that targeted Democratic figures during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The CIA concluded that the motive behind Russia’s interference was to try and get Donald Trump elected, as The Washington Post first reported earlier this month. After what initially appeared to be disagreement over Russia’s motives, the FBI backed the CIA’s assessment.

Posted by Active Measures on Sat, 07 Jan 2017 02:57 | #

Ramzpaul discusses Seth Rich.

Rich was an insider who apparently had access to the Democratic Party emails, could have downloaded them and passed them on to Wikileaks et al.

If he was indeed behind the leaks and that fact was discovered, it could also provide a motive as to why he was murdered. I’ll leave aside speculation as to who committed the murder for now - Ramzpaul says it was The Democratic Party.

The issue is “off my (Daniels) beat” so to speak, but from what I gather…

The whole bit about “The Russians were NOT behind the hacks” is misconstrued.

My working understanding of the situation is that:

First of all, “hacking” was not the means by which the emails were accessed.

The Republican emails were accessed as well.

To say that the Russians, their Active Measures and Fancy Bear, did not hack and were not very directly involved in the original theft, does not mean that they did not acquire these emails.

If the Russians were trying to influence the election - which, by the way, there is no reason to believe that Active Measures would NOT try to do - one of the means could have been to NOT also disclose Republican emails, which could have been equally damning. But at very least, they would promote the Democratic ones - hence, influence the election.

Hillary was not necessarily as anti-Russian as Alt-Righters are led to believe. She’d met amicably with Putin and for various obvious reasons, a direct war with Russia was highly unlikely even under her auspices.

Nevertheless, obviously, the Russians would prefer Trump. He doesn’t come along with some of the major cold war strategists who take a skeptical view of Russia’s geopolitical motives and relations east and west. On the contrary, he’s installed Tillerson as his Secretary of State as well as having made several other Russian friendly gestures.

It gets more insidious than that, as Trump floated his aspiration for the Presidency along with the possibility of working with Russia as far back as the 80’s.

What’s wrong with Russia influencing election, you say? Trump’s White, Russia’s a White nation. Well, hmmm. Russia’s a White “nation” in a sense like America’s a White “nation.” OK, unlike America, they don’t have many blacks and that’s a big plus, but….

1) Russia is not an ethno-state

a) Not in its vast, imperial dimensions.

b) Not in its demographic make-up

c) Not in its leadership and power structure.

It’s leadership and power structure take an imperialist reach by three means:

- Objectivist business motives, which are aggrandizing of territory, resources and antagonistic to adjacent nations and beyond.

- Jewish interests, which combine the aforementioned objectivist motives, with their own hyper-ethnocentric agenda.

- The Orthodox Church, which, being part of the Abrahamic fray, is merely a confusing way to carry on the first two motives of imperialism. One may say that it is different than the forms of Christianity practiced in The US, but

The leadership, power structure and motives of The US compares well to The Russian Federation.

Israel would by no means be antagonistic to this growing alliance under the Trump administration, but would be a part of it.

Who are the adversaries of this alliance, then?

Asian ethno-nationalism yes, but basically any ethno-nationalism.

Active Measures, Jewish interests and objectivist business interests are using “right cover” of the Alt-Right and right-wing European parties, to some extent co-opting them, using them for their purposes, but the motive for doing this is not ethno-nationalist.  It’s right cover and the recognition that the right is full of useful idiots and desperate, disingenuous people, ripe to sell out. A little bell should go off when the entire Alt-Right is treating The Russian Federation as if it is as pure as the driven snow.

Posted by Trump's stance on Russia & China on Sun, 15 Jan 2017 08:00 | #

       
          Apparently looking to play Russia against China

USA Today, President-elect Donald Trump, in a fresh peek at his foreign policy views, says he is open to lifting sanctions against Russia and is not committed to a longstanding agreement with China over Taiwan. Beijing swiftly responded to the latter remark, calling any revision of the longstanding “One China” policy “non-negotiable.”

Trump’s comments came in an hour-long interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday in which he said he will keep the sanctions on Russia in place “for a period of time” but is open to lifting them if Moscow cooperates on issues of mutual interest.

While several sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of Crimea, the latest measures, as well as the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, were imposed by the Obama administration last month in response to evidence Russia hacked Democratic Party officials during the presidential election.

Senate intel panel to examine possible campaign links with Russia

Trump’s latest views on Russia comes only days after CNN’s report regarding classified documents presented to Obama and Trump during an intelligence briefing last week that contained unsubstantiated and potentially compromising information about the president-elect.

“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” Trump said in the Journal interview. He added, however, he would keep the latest sanctions in place “at least for a period of time.”

Trump acknowledged for the first time this week that he accepts Russia was behind the hacking. But he questioned whether officials were leaking information about their meetings with him, warning that would be a “tremendous blot” on their record.

‘Pulp fiction’: Russia denies ‘compromising materials’ on Trump

Trump says ‘I have nothing to do with Russia.’ That’s not exactly true

The president-elect also told the Journal he is willing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he takes office next week. “I understand that they would like to meet, and that’s absolutely fine with me,” Trump added.

Regarding China, Trump was specifically asked whether he supports the U.S. “One China” policy on Taiwan, which declares the province as part of China. Trump’s response: “Everything is under negotiation, including One China.” He described it as leverage in any talks with Beijing over trade and currency issues.

China: Trump’s Taiwan comments spark ‘serious concern’

The remarks come only weeks after Trump’s unprecedented phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen shortly after the November election. There has been no communication between the leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979.

The latest comments brought a swift and pointed response from China. In a statement Saturday, Lu Kang, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, called the One China policy “non-negotiable” and the “political foundation” of China-U.S. relations.

Four ways Trump could tangle with China

“To avoid disruption to the sound and steady development of the China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in key areas, we urge relevant parties in the U.S. to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question, approach Taiwan-related issues with prudence and honor the commitment made by all previous U.S. administrations of both parties on adhering to the one-China policy,” Kang said.

Why China matters in Trump’s economic policy

Trump’s comments appear to represent a departure from remarks by his advisers in early December that the phone call to Taiwan’s leader did not signify any formal shift in long-standing U.S. relations with Taiwan or China.

In mid-December, An Fengshan, a spokesman for China’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office, warned of more serious consequences if U.S. shifts positions on the Taiwan issue.

“If this basis is interfered with or damaged, then the healthy, stable development of China-U.S. relations is out of the question, and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait will be seriously impacted,” he added, according to the BBC..

Posted by More or less informed opinons on Russia and Trump on Mon, 30 Jan 2017 16:19 | #

Two interviews from liberal sources, but taking that into account:

1) Interview with British journalist Luke Harding, regarding his experience with Russian secret services, the light thrown by ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele’s dossier, viz., on Active Measures influence on European and American politics.

2) Interview with General Michael Hayden, former National Security Agency (NSA) director, former CIA director, provides an experienced account of how he would look upon the dossier and the Trump Whitehouse.

       
Hayden criticizes Trump’s executive order banning Visa’s from seven Muslim countries, “because we need Muslim friends to help us combat the more extreme ones.” There’s assuredly some unfortunate truth to that. But Kumiko had a better criticism of the executive order: “It’s likely to negatively effect those who could help us most - blocking those who are fleeing from Islam.”