Aussies tipped FBI to Russia’s meddling; the latest 2018 election-hacking threat; Putin’s political provocateurs, and more

“Whoever controls cyberspace will control the world”: Russian hackers waging cyber war on Ukraine “training” for Western targets (Alec Luhn, Telegraph)
Ten minutes before the 2pm news broadcast on June 27, Vitaly Kovach, the editor of Ukraine’s channel 24, stood up and told his staff to immediately unplug their network cables. The computers had frozen at the channel’s studio in Lviv, and an editor there had sent him a picture of what looked like a ransomware message. But it was already too late to stop the virus from spreading: within minutes, 20 computers in the Kiev office were nonfunctional. The channel was under cyberattack.

What we learned about Trump, Russia, and collusion in 2017 (Andrew Prokop, Vox)
The biggest question about the scandal is still unanswered.

The latest 2018 election-hacking threat: 9-month wait for government help (Tim Starks, Politico)
Some states might not get an intensive DHS review until weeks before the midterm elections. States rushing to guard their 2018 elections against hackers may be on a waiting list for up to nine months for the Department of Homeland Security’s most exhaustive security screening, according to government officials familiar with the situation. That means some states might not get the service until weeks before the November midterms and may remain unaware of flaws that could allow homegrown cyber vandals or foreign intelligence agencies to target voter registration databases and election offices’ computer networks, the officials said. Russian hackers targeted election systems in at least 21 states in 2016, according to DHS.

Should we believe a Russian hacker who claims he hit the DNC for a rogue operative in the FSB? (Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast)
Konstantin Kozlovsky, for the moment, is in the ‘luxury’ branch of an infamous prison, but he could face a lifetime in jail. What deals might he make to win a reprieve?

What Russian journalists uncovered about Russian election meddling (Julia Ioeffe, The Atlantic)
A cautionary tale about the importance of independent media abroad

Forgetting the past: The U.S. response to Russian disinformation (Matthew Tallmer, Roughly Explained)
Russia’s interference during the 2016 elections was not a fluke. Rather it reflects ongoing efforts which date back more than a century. The U.S. government’s response – or lack thereof – to Russian disinformation campaigns reflects a remarkable lack of historical insight and more than a little naivety among policymakers. Long-running reluctance among U.S. policymakers to confront the Kremlin’s active measures campaigns emboldened Russia further.

Pressure builds to improve election cybersecurity (Morgan Chalfant, The Hill)
After the revelation that Russia tried to probe election systems in 21 states in the 2016 election, security experts, state officials and others demanded federal action to help states upgrade outdated voting machines and bolster security around voter registration databases.