The Russia watch this weekRussia’s meddling: Well beyond elections; EU counters Putin’s trolls; cyber-conflict’s “trust war,” and more

Published 19 January 2018

· A look inside Russia’s disinformation campaign

· Russian cyber meddling extends well beyond elections

· Russian hackers move to new political targets

· American democracy is an easy target

· Prepping for what comes after the Kremlin’s beta attack on our elections

· Contrasting China’s and Russia’s influence operations

· Russian disinformation campaign has been ‘extremely successful’ in Europe, warns EU

· EU names China and Russia as top hackers

· Sweden raises alarm on election meddling

· Facebook to continue its probe into Russian meddling on Brexit

· Russia closing gap with NATO, top U.S. general in Europe warns

· France’s attempt to outlaw fake news raises controversy

· DHS giving ‘active defense’ cyber tools to private sector, secretary says

· Twitter to alert users who saw Russian propaganda during election

· FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump

· Rubio’s push for swift Russia sanctions is latest quiet break from Trump

· Google and Twitter face more questions in Washington over Russian interference

· Trust war: Dangerous trends in cyber conflict

· FBI vets: What many are missing about the infamous “dossier” amid Russia probe

· Putin, of all people, warns U.S. against election meddling in Russia

· On Donald Trump’s “playbook” and his refusal to commit to an interview with the special counsel

· Secret money: How Trump made millions selling condos to unknown buyers

· “Very high level of confidence” Russia used Kaspersky software for devastating NSA leaks

· Xcel, other utility companies combating heightened possibility of cyberattacks

· Putin’s new cyber weapon may be GPS spoofing

· Russians were behind Ukraine hack, CIA finds

· France vs. fake news offers test case for democratic dilemma

· Cybersecurity: Time for a new definition

· The Steele Dossier: Let transparency trump politics

· Why the president’s FISA fix is bad news for privacy, good news for Russian agents

· Congress tries to cool partisan fever on Russia

· A checklist for protecting our elections from foreign meddling

· Putin’s trolls are targeting Trump’s GOP critics—especially John McCain

· Russian military was behind “NotPetya” cyberattack in Ukraine, CIA concludes

· Countering the growing threat of Russian disinformation in Canada

· U.S. fails to stand up for democracy in face of Russian online assault

· The America Europe needs right now is missing

A look inside Russia’s disinformation campaign (Shane Savitsky, Axios)
Russia’s success in influencing the 2016 election came as government officials couldn’t agree on a legal, satisfactory course of action or counterattack — and, for the most part, they still haven’t. That leaves the critical 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election similarly open to foreign targeting and disruption.

Russian cyber meddling extends well beyond elections (Mark Rockwell, FCW)
A wave of fake email comments similar to the one that flooded the Federal Communications Commission’s servers this past summer, tagged to Russian IP addresses, might also swamp the servers of other federal agencies in the future, as bad actors move to subvert and undermine U.S. democratic processes, a social media expert told a Senate hearing.

Russian hackers move to new political targets (Morgan Chalfant, The Hill)
Russia’s cyber operations against the United States are showing signs of accelerating even as lawmakers grapple with how to deter and respond to the threat. Moscow-linked hackers have expanded to new political targets, including the U.S. Senate, in the wake of the hacking and disinformation campaign during the 2016 presidential race. The hackers, said to have links to Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit, are part of the same group that was implicated in the 2016 hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

American democracy is an easy target (Henry Farrell, Foreign Policy)
Americans have become paranoid about foreign cyberattacks on their political system, but they have nobody but themselves to blame. It is not surprising that Russia is trying to use social media against the United States. The real puzzle is why these operations are succeeding so well.

Prepping for what comes after the Kremlin’s beta attack on our elections (Jason Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times)
The revelations of Russian-backed efforts to influence the 2016 election should come as no surprise to people familiar with history. The term dezinformatsiya — disinformation — was coined by Joseph Stalin, after all. And the Kremlin’s digital media intervention was just a beta test. We’ve yet to act to prevent another such campaign, and our nation remains vulnerable to an even stronger attack in the 2018 midterm elections.