This morning’s headline: Code associated with Russia hacking found on Vermont utility computer.
Russian (and any others) hacking is a national security risk that shouldn’t be taken lightly. As I have posted previously the incoming Congress should work towards strengthening American cyber-defenses across the board.
A code associated with a broad Russian hacking campaign dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected on a laptop associated with a Vermont electric utility but not connected to the grid, the utility said on Friday.
“We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” the Burlington Electric Department said in a statement.
“Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems. We have briefed state officials and will support the investigation fully.”
The Department of Homeland Security alerted utilities on Thursday night about a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the Burlington Electric Department said.
The article goes on to mention that his might not be a direct attempt to access the Vermont grid. That the laptop may have been infected by visiting a rogue site of some sort. But considering Ukraine has accused Russia of accessing their electrical grid and shutting parts of it down, this isn’t a laughing matter.
btw: Now I have to wonder if I may be hacked…when researching yesterday’s posts: Trump Shrugs Over Russian Hacking Accusations and Oh Cripes: Twitter Diplomacy!, I at two points ended up on a website of the Russian embassy UK and after that my laptop crashed…hmmm.
No, I’m still not convinced and DNC/DPW adherents are suffering from Putin Derangement Syndrome exhibited in the excuse making for part of the reason Hillary isn’t accepting coronation in less than three weeks. These leaks came from rogue elements in the DNC.
$5B US dollars were funneled through ambassador Nuland to fund the neo-nazi rebels who terrorized southern Ukrainians the least bit sympathetic with Russia in the Crimea, partly to provoke Russia (an excuse to mobilize and increase NATO [US] presence in the region) and to create a climate conducive to inhibiting Russian gas sales to eastern Europe. So anything said regarding hacking coming from the Ukraine can easily be dismissed forthwith.
Most readers here are likely not aware of the Syrian battles between CIA and Pentagon funded rebel factions wrecking havoc on civilian populations as these two US interests fight for US taxpayer funding for their own self interests and hold on power.
With a totally compliant US media failing to report any facts regarding our proxy wars overseas, disinformation presented in this country at every turn, while I’m neither a fan of Trump nor Putin, the only thing presently that will convince me that the DNC isn’t playing the excuse making, sympathy card here. This is likely part of the narrative to prevent Ellison and Sanders from gaining DNC leadership as much as anything else right now.
Oh, and find me one story that definitively claims proof of Russian hacking without a disclaimer at the end saying something like, ” we are fairly certain about our speculation.”
Further reading, slightly off topic, but de-legitimizing and denigrating Russia is part of the hacking propaganda for US gas sales to eastern Europe. Follow the money.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-says-gas-pipeline-boost-annexed-crimeas-economy-125040548.html?ref=gs
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2016/08/biden-pledges-continued-us-support-for-baltic-states-energy-progress.html
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/05/bidens-son-gets-ukrainian-oil-company-gig/
File this one under fake news. While I’m not sure why this piece of propaganda was spawned, I strongly suspect it was planted by elements of the DNC in support of a larger narrative centered around Trump cheating and getting outside help to win. Truthyness to encourage the weak minded and unhinged if you will. Then again, non’s “Follow the money.” track should not be discounted.
The wiki lays out the new McCarthyism controlling the messaging allowed even within the fully compliant 4th Estate and now is fully upon us in further repression of public information .
Countering Foreign Propaganda is the latest excuse to keep US citizens in the dark over the US oligarchy means and ends and was just increased by another $160M of taxpayer money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act
Further Reading, i.e. WaPost, Bezos/ CIA cloud services:
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/02/wposts-new-fake-news-on-russian-hack/