Senator Angus King revealed a disturbing bit of info last night

[mainer]

He gave a presentation at the Camden (Maine) Opera House last night. He spoke about his work on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and as usual he was literate, well-versed in details, and a cracking good speaker.

He said the IT department at a small bank in rural Maine told him their bank was getting ONE HUNDRED cyber-attacks a day, and these attacks are almost always traced back to Russia or the Ukraine. If one small bank in northern Maine is getting attacked by Russia a hundred times a day, imagine what's happening to all our financial institutions.

I know a lot of Trump supporters don't really care that Russia is trying to bring down our democracy. I wonder how they'll feel when their bank accounts suddenly vanish.

[mnmoderatedem]

1. yeah but Putin is OK

trump sez so.

[Roy Rolling]

15. Bank Security

I worked for two decades managing web presence and online security for a small bank. Getting a hundred hits a day from mostly Russian sources evolved into an everyday occurrence.

Most of the traffic is like a burglar late at night checking doors of a business to see which ones are locked.

But often enough it turn d dark, with Russian IP-addressed hackers launching DDoS attacks and wanting a ransom paid in Bitcoin to stop them.

Angus sounds very sincere and a bit naive, but the threat is real. And from his perspective on Senate Intelligence, I'm sure he sees the methods of cyberattacks and better understands the World Cyberwar currently being waged against the United States and other countries. Intrusions our president says never happen.

[C Moon]

57. +1

[Ilsa]

2. Other companies that issue

Gift cards, credit cards, etc, are getting hit, too, but less frequently.

[duforsure]

3. All while trump claims

putins a fine fellow, and after his attacks on the nuclear power plants , and telling the American people he wants better relations . trumps a liar and conspiring with putin, and allowing him to continue attacking us with no objections or consequences. This makes trump a willing agent for putin, and by not publicly denouncing this, and by not attacking him for it, it just makes it more obvious putin has trump in his pocket , and is his puppet. The republicans in Congress have now also been compromised , and will face many investigations from it after Nov. , which trump and the gop have to have a major event, or rig this upcoming election to prevent the Democrats from exposing them . We could be attacked before this upcoming election, and trump is helping them do it now.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

40. Don't forget the members of Congress

Over there on our largesse. Just your friendly gop repub vacation caucus over shaking hands w the Russians and attending some "How to Win in Cyber, and Get Paid Too." Seminars.

[smirkymonkey]

4. That's pretty scary.

Can you imagine what they can do to us with Trump's cooperation? A kind of Cyber 9/11 or something like that. Maybe right before the mid-terms? I would put nothing past the two of them.

Thanks for posting that info. Good to know.

[Achilleaze]

5. The KGOpee republicans aren't lifting a finger to defend America

they are just letting russia have it's way, as long as the $$$ keeps flowing to them

[griloco]

21. They've joined the BABs

Benedict Arnold Brigade

[calimary]

56. 'Cause they want that help again.

There are midterm elections to be fucked with, and they don't want to leave anything to chance. They want very desperately to stay in power. And I'll bet they realize that they're kinda up against it this fall, and probably won't do well if they have to do it themselves.

[rurallib]

6. We know they have hacked into our electric grid before

makes you wonder if they are getting set up for a multi-pronged cyber attack in the future if Donny tries to fuck Putin over.

[The Wizard]

7. Don't fuck with the money (NT)

[heaven05]

8. trump enabled them

along with others in BOTH Party's and factions within those Party's and I don't forget the SARANDONS and third party candidates...Did Ocasio-Cortez vote HRC in 2016?

?w=990

[sharedvalues]

26. Yes to Stein. Yes to Sarandon. But Ocasio-Cortez is the future

I'm with you, heaven, on Stein and Sarandon.

What is critical is that Stein and Sarandon ARE NOT remorseful. They still defend what they did.


But Ocasio-Cortez is a Democrat. And we all need to embrace her. She's is working WITHIN the Democratic party.

Listen, ditch Stein and Sarandon and criticize them. (Some of the time. Find time to focus on your own positive message too). But please do not slag a Democrat like Ocasio-Cortez.

We need to unify. Unify with us.

But Ocasio-Cortez’s victory, and her quick embrace by the Party afterward, repeated a pattern, which has been happening since the middle of the Obama years, of Democrats adopting, rather than shunning, left-wing protest movements: Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and now Sandersism. Last week, Jake Sullivan, who had been in charge of policy for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign, wrote a long essay for the journal Democracy making the case for the Party to embrace a more radical idea of government, and a more expansive view of what voters would tolerate. “The bottom line is that Democrats should not blush too much, or pay too much heed, when political commentators arch their eyebrows about the party moving left,” Sullivan wrote. “The center of gravity itself is moving, and this is a good thing.” The images of Sanders on the campaign trail, puritanical and intent, are indelible. How weird would it be if his deepest effect is not to leave behind a popular movement but to convert the Party’s élites?

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-and-the-legacy-of-the-bernie-sanders-movement

[heaven05]

31. I will look closer nt.

[murielm99]

34. I saw a picture of Ocasio-Cortez

with Sarandon. Has anyone else seen that picture?

[heaven05]

42. I did see one

[George II]

43. I believe there's a campaign finance law violation in that poster on the screen in the background...

...unless I'm mistaken it's supposed to say "Paid for by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2018, XXXX Treasurer.

No big deal, but I've seen treasurers/campaigns fined for a simple error like that.

[kag]

44. Not necessarily.

Different states have different laws.

I've worked as treasurer on two campaigns (in Colorado), and any expenditure could be approved by EITHER the treasurer or the candidate. It all had to be recorded and submitted on a regular basis, but I don't think there's anything in that ad that would violate the rules/laws.

[oasis]

9. Russia is a nation run by mobsters. That's what mobsters do. nt

[dlk]

10. JP Morgan Chase Spends Over $100 Million/Year Fending Off Hackers and Thieves

Lori Beer, their global CIO was interviewed recently & that’s what she said. This is the new face of warfare and the soldiers are hackers stealing bank accounts and intellectual property.

Someone I know in banking has said hackers are breaking through 20-bit encryption. We live in a new world.

[Roy Rolling]

16. Yes

I worked in bank online security. There's a World Cyberwar being waged against the west by Russia. The 2016 elections were our Cyber Pearl Harbor. And unlike FDR, Trump is on Russia's team.

Imagine if FDR had said of Pearl Harbor, "I'm not sure it was Japan, it could be anyone". That is Trump's response to an attack on the United States.

[Achilleaze]

22. russia is attacking. republicans are surrendering.

[kag]

45. I'll bet

that Cheetoh wishes he had that much real hair.

[calimary]

52. Actually, the CONS aren't surrendering.

They’re willing collaborators. They’re part of the team.

Remember one of the rules of solving crime and mystery. One should always ask: who benefits?

[grantcart]

58. Such an unfair comparison for Arnold

Arnold distinguished himself at the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga, at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut (after which he was promoted to major general), relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777, in which he suffered leg injuries that halted his combat, before he sold out his country.

Trump never distinguished himself, never put himself in danger, never got wound. He sold out the country and then went downhill from there.

[TheBlackAdder]

33. 20-bit encryption? The minimum cyber standard is now CBC-SHA256.

[reACTIONary]

49. 20 bit encyption....

.... is two-bit encryption .

[Honeycombe8]

11. OMG.

I don't know what I'd do if my retirement account vanished.

Are they trying to steal money? Or just crash our financial system?

[mainer]

13. I know, scary isn't it? If all electronic records of our accounts vanished?

Sure, we may have paper copies, but crooks can mock those up, and financial institutions would need a long time to verify which paper records are real and which aren't, and in the meantime, you'll lose access to your own money.

If you think this is unlikely, just look at how hard it is to match up CHILDREN taken by ICE with their immigrant parents.

[Roy Rolling]

17. Extortion is the Goal

The attacks on banks are to disrupt online banking for customers, damage bank records, and squeeze ransom from banks. They are an army of common criminals.

[LiberalArkie]

19. Back up tapes that are stored offsite will restore your records. That is why when you

request your checking statement from a year, maybe 6 months, that it may take them a few days to get it to you. They have to retrieve a tape from offsite storage.

But also Russia has a lot of VPN sites that people all over the world use to hide where the computer operator is located. To keep away from the U.S. prying eyes. Go through a proxy server to hide where you are and who you are and you will show up as being in Russia.

So just because an IP address traces back to Russia does not mean that it is not an American trying to break into a site.

[kag]

46. Yes!

Backups are your friends! And off-site storage is a must!

Thanks for pointing this out, liberalArkie.

[Honeycombe8]

37. I don't get paper copies.

I'm signed up for electronic. I save some to my computer occasionally.

I'm going to start downloading them to my computer every month. Can't hurt. Though I bet my financial institution probably has a backup copy of everything?

[AllyCat]

18. Probably both.

This is really frightening.

[IronLionZion]

12. Trump would outsource America's cybersecurity to Russia

as a way to find efficiencies and save costs. Much like he hires other people to leadership positions in agencies they have spent their entire lives fundamentally opposed to.

[mainer]

14. It makes you want to hide your money under a mattress

Or at least invest it in something that can't go "poof" when electronic records go down.

[RestoreAmerica2020]

20. Maybe when Russia hacks their bank accounts, steals their election

from their candidate; when putin's puppet .takes their children away and holds them hostage; when it impacts them personally...then they''ll come out, take a stand. When rep. scalese was shot @at baseball practice, paul ryan was immediately at the podium on floor of congress...

paul ryan: 'An Attack on One of Us is An Attack On All of Us' yet, he doesn't mean all of us as in non white, nonchristian, lgbt,women, immigrants and refugees[/b he meant just them.

So.. unless russia, trump directly impacts their bottom line, threatens their families, their job security --then and only then will they'll take a stand. Sadly, given their lack of action and seemingly the benefactors of the coup...their silence is deafening.

[Honeycombe8]

38. Excellent observations.

I had forgotten about the Ryan speech after Scalise was shot.

The thing is....Russia wants to protect TrumpLand, since it supports Russia's goals.

[kentuck]

23. I think Angus King would be an ideal VP candidate.

To appeal to the Independent voters. It would make the Democratic ticket much stronger, in my opinion.

He is a very intelligent politician.

[Brother Buzz]

25. As of last month, that notion became a non starter

DNC just adopted a rule requiring candidates to run, serve as a Democrat.

[kentuck]

27. Too bad.

Bernie Sanders is not the only Independent that caucuses with the Democrats.

[Honeycombe8]

39. I like Angus King, too. Very calm, cool, informed, intelligent.

Don't know a whole lot about him. He may not be interested in running for President, anyway.

[Hekate]

35. Too bad Bernie spoiled it for others

I think he used up a lot of trust

[SunSeeker]

36. Yep. nt

[mainer]

28. Angus described his role as the go-between in committees

He's the perfect person to focus opposing sides back on topic, and I'm sure he was a large part of the Intelligence Committee's being united in their report. But too often, I imagine it's like herding cats.

He would be a great President. Too bad it's logistically impossible.

[DFW]

41. I've met him several times. You're right.

He's sort of a more intellectual Joe Biden. Like Biden, he is very personable, even tempered, a great speaker, and wicked smart.

But after the Sanders fiasco of the 2016 primary season, no independent will be considered for a position on the ticket. On the other hand, IF Angus King were join the Democratic Party, he would do so out of conviction, not out of convenience. Once in, he would stay in.

[Calista241]

24. 100 attacks a day is less than i would expect.

New servers when brought online and connected to the net are usually attacked within minutes of startup. The VAST majority of these attacks are pitiful scripts though.

To run a real hack, without using a phishing or other social approach, requires highly advanced knowledge. There are a few hundred of these people in the world, and most of them are employed by companies that pay them ridiculous amounts of money to help secure their network.

Social attacks like phishing can get you into email accounts and other low risk environments, but are unlikely to get you into the truly secure portions of the bank where bank records and transaction capability are.

[C_U_L8R]

29. And Trump does nothing.

In fact he seems to be cheering it on

[calimary]

55. 'Cause he wants their help again.

There's another round of elections to be fucked with. Coming up in November, for starters.

[keithbvadu2]

30. White House eliminates top cyber adviser post

Newer republican meme… “Russia is our friend.”
--------------
Bolton pushing to eliminate White House cyber job

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142056288

White House eliminates top cyber adviser post

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210618531

[usaf-vet]

32. For generations the USAF has flown missions up and down or eastern coastline to protect....

against attacks from the then Soviet Union. Our government has realized the threat for years . Now for whatever reason we fail to see the serious threat from the continuous cyber attacks from the very same bad actors in Russia.

We realize at least as far back as the 1960 that the government NEEDED to be the protecting force. Not individuals, not states and not private businesses. Now we need the same level of shielding from this more dangerous unseen clandestine attacks or probes from the Russian state.

According multiple sources with knowledge of cyber warfare it is possible for bad players to disrupt our power gird, disrupt out telecommunication systems and disrupt our water supplies. In other words disrupt our entire infrastructure. WITHOUT firing a shot and without the use of conventional weapons.

Why is our government NOT taking this threat seriously and protecting that one bank in Maine and all other institutions within our boarders.

Forget the stupid wall to stop immigrants seeking a better life. Build protection around our entire country from cyber warfare.

THAT IS THE GOVERNMENTS JOB!

[AlexSFCA]

47. do you think equifax breach was orchestrated by russia?

[liberalnarb]

48. Scary stuff.

On another note: Camden is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I haven't been up in a while. I miss it.

[MadDAsHell]

50. Russia should have been on the radar 10 years ago.

Instead it was laughed at as not a real threat.

[Crash2Parties]

51. And don't forget: FDIC insured doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Now, account holders are *last* in line, behind bank investors & owners to recover their money.

You know, should someone make off with the contents of enough accounts. It's not like banks have to hold much in reserve anymore.

[MFM008]

53. Until maggot

Loses money, he could give a shot about the little guys money.

[WinstonSmith4740]

54. You live in Camden??

So does my sister! Small world!

[mainer]

59. People everywhere seem to know about our little Shangri-La!

Camden has only about 5,000 year-round residents, but I've met people all around the world who know about this town.

[TrogL]

60. That's nothing new

I subbed for the security analyst at a place I worked at five years ago that was partially financial. The firewall logs were full of attacks by Russia, the 'stans and Chinese script kiddies.