Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump

[Tactical Peek]

Source: Washington Post

Russian government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to committee officials and security experts who responded to the breach.

The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system they also were able to read all e-mail and chat traffic, said DNC officials and the security experts.

The intrusion into the DNC was one of several targeting American political organizations. The networks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also targeted by Russian spies, as were the computers of some GOP political action committees, U.S. officials said. But details on those cases were not available.

A Russian Embassy spokesman said he had no knowledge of such intrusions.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-government-hackers-penetrated-dnc-stole-opposition-research-on-trump/2016/06/14/cf006cb4-316e-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html

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Oopsies

[Purveyor]

1. Oh this is going to be fun, indeed. eom

[bemildred]

4. Down the rabbit hole we go. nt

[eastwestdem]

6. Fun how? nt

[DetlefK]

2. Nothing on RT about that yet.

[Autumn]

3. What are they gonna do? Knock trump out of the race?

[getagrip_already]

7. they could feed it back to him....

He is likely their much preferred president.

Otherwise they can use it to profile him, in order to exploit weaknesses and push their interests in areas he has little interest in defending.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. Trump can be compromised

Now they know the quality and extent.

[getagrip_already]

32. if he was diddling iron curtain hotties....

They already have some footage that would certainly embarrass good old stubby fingers.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

37. Trump has already said he loves him some Putin

Maybe they're hacking on Trump's behest.

[geek tragedy]

5. Fire DWS. They had access for a full year before anyone noticed.

Get some adult supervision in there.

[TwilightZone]

8. Unless she's personally responsible for data security...

the blame would probably be better placed with the IT/security staff.

[geek tragedy]

10. after the database breach in October there should have been a full security review

to see what other backdoors were being exploited.

The DNC's data is its main asset.

[NWCorona]

14. Agreed. No matter what side you are on that action should have been obvious.

[TwilightZone]

18. Sure, but that still doesn't mean its her personal responsibility.

That's why organizations have data security staff.

Unless there's evidence that she made decisions that led to the security lapses or she's personally responsible for data security, I just don't see how this is her fault.

From the article, they reacted as soon as the breach was noted, tracked the activity, and identified the organizations responsible.

Also from the article: "The firm suspects they may have targeted DNC employees with “spearphishing” emails. "

If some DNC employee clicked an e-mail attachment that installed malware/spyware, leading to the hack, how again is that DWS's fault?

[geek tragedy]

20. accountability starts at the top.

And, those fond of trite sayings could invoke straws and camels' backs.

Does she do anything right?

[TwilightZone]

23. No, accountability starts with those responsible for the task at hand.

If there's a security breach at a bank, they don't fire the CEO. They replace the data security staff. Or the Technology Director. Or, at most (but unlikely), the CIO.

DWS is none of those.

[cstanleytech]

25. Exactly. NT

[cstanleytech]

24. Unless she had the ability to literally control a person's every deed and action it

does not always start at the top.

[cstanleytech]

11. Might want to save your breath as some people just want her out and will blame her

for anything kind of like the people who blame Obama for everything.

[BlueMTexpat]

13. +1! eom

[OKNancy]

19. From the article:

He said the DNC was not engaged in a fair fight. “You’ve got ordinary citizens who are doing hand-to-hand combat with trained military officers,” he said. “And that’s an untenable situation.”

[Journeyman]

12. Political campaigns do opposition research on both their opponent and themselves, to prepare. . .

for what may be coming from the other side. Can't imagine what the Clinton Camp would have on their candidate that isn't well known, but whatever it may be, guess it's known in Moscow now, same as everything that will be thrown at Trump in the coming months.

[BlueMTexpat]

16. I can't imagine that there

is much about Trump that isn't already available on Google - unless the DNC had access to unreleased income tax filings, credit reports, etc. - which would be illegal.

The 21st Century version of "Watergate" ....

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. Sure is a good thing that our electronic voting machines have better security

[global1]

17. I Wonder If The E-mails & Chat Traffic Will Yield Any Insight Into....

the Primary strategies and superdelegate strategies?

Could some of them provide insight into DWS's method of running the DNC during this Primary season?

[OKNancy]

21. Please read the Washington post article in it's entirety before spouting off

thank you

[tm2clean2]

22. Who would the Russians want for President of US?

I'm curious what their end game would be, are they for Hillary, Trump or Bernie? What do you all think?

[pampango]

33. "Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken favorably about Trump, who has called for better

relations with Russia and expressed skepticism about NATO."

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

38. Plus Trump has said he loves him some Putin

[Phlem]

26. But our electronic voting machines are rock solid.

[840high]

35. yes sir!

[EdwardBernays]

27. We're so lucky

That all US officials with access to state secrets keep their emails on secure government servers maintained by government cybersecurity experts.

Imagine what could happen if they were just kept on some home server maintained by some idiot.

[Pastiche423]

36. +1

[kimbutgar]

28. Who's to say they will release this oppo research to trump so he can

Use it to fight back and win, then if he gets elected the Russians can destabilize our government and destroy trump and our country. Putin is a crafty fellow and I wouldn't put it past him.

Just think who could Putin destroy easier Don the con or Hillary? I think Hillary would be formidable against Putin while with Don the con he can destroy him quickly.

In the past I remember reading a book with a similar premise. But can't remember the name of it.

[Ford_Prefect]

29. Oh really! It matters NOW that a server with sensitive information is actually secure ?????????????

Please, oh please, don't tell me about it now. We've been telling you fools for years not to do it. But you don't listen when it doesn't suit your agenda, or your desire to hide what you do from certain others.

It is not the IT people who bear scrutiny but their clients who insisted on playing outside the secure lines. Been there, done that, and sold the screenplay. People in power who have no idea how IT works think that it cannot happen to them because they are by definition above it all-that inconvenient rules and procedures are only there for the lesser beings who serve them.

After more than a decade of complaints that the voting system in most states can be hacked by a 6 year old using cut and paste text? After more than a year of denial about the former SOS's private system and its potential for exploitation?

This is only the tip of the iceberg folks, as we have been told several times. Guess what? The iceberg has struck again!

...and thank you Debbie once again for your incredibly insightful leadership. Your diligent defense of mediocrity is a beacon to us all.

[LongTomH]

30. This is all over internet news now. Google on: Russian hackers news

Of course, it's all pretty much the same story. The Washington Post article does have more detail.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Snowden was unavailable for comment...

Seriously, if the U.S. did this to some foreign candidate, Greenwald and the rest of his cultists would be going apeshit...

[JustAnotherGen]

39. You tell no lies

[bemildred]

34. Ars Technica: Hackers invade Dems’ servers, steal entire Trump opposition file

Intrusion was so thorough it exposed almost a year's worth of e-mail and chats.

A hack on the Democratic National Committee has given attackers access to a massive trove of data, including all opposition research into presidential candidate Donald Trump and almost a year's worth of private e-mail and chat messages, according to a published report.

In an article published Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that researchers with CrowdStrike, the security firm DNC officials hired to investigate and contain the breach, determined the intrusions were carried out by two separate hacker groups that both worked for the Russian government. One, dubbed Cozy Bear, gained access last summer and has been monitoring committee members' e-mail and chat communications. The other is known as Fancy Bear and is believed to have broken into the network in late April. It was the latter intrusion that obtained the entire database of Trump opposition and later tipped off IT team members the network may have been breached.

The DNC intrusion is just one of several targeting US political organizations, the WaPo said, with the networks of Trump, rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and some republican political action committees also being targeted by Russian spies. Details about those campaigns weren't available. The hackers who penetrated the DNC network were expelled last weekend. No financial and donor information appears to have been taken, leaving analysts to suspect the attack was a case of traditional espionage and not the work of criminal hackers. According to Wednesday's report:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/hackers-invade-dems-servers-steal-entire-trump-opposition-file/

[arcane1]

40. How hard is it to research opposition for Trump? He's a fucking clown.

Of all the data to worry about, that seems to be the most minor.

[stonecutter357]

41. I am so glad Hillary Clinton has a private email server..

[.99center]

42. Bernies campaign warned the DNC that the vendor "dropped the firewall"

"Sadly, the vendor who runs the DNC's voter file program continues to make serious errors. On more than one occasion, the vendor has dropped the firewall between the data of different Democratic campaigns. Our campaign months ago alerted the DNC to the fact that campaign data was being made available to other campaigns. At that time our campaign did not run to the media, relying instead on assurances from the vendor."
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/18/460273748/bernie-sanders-campaign-locked-out-of-key-voter-file-after-data-breach


Did the DNC investigate after the warning, what did they investigate after the breach by the Sanders staff member? Maybe it was a different security vendor that handled the opposition research but the security of all data should've been a top priority, especially after a known breach.

[bemildred]

43. Good point. Whatabout that?

I remember great outrage over that.