The Russia watchA closer look at IRA; cybercriminals and the Kremlin; Where's the hacking indictment?

What did Russian trolls want in 2016? A closer look at the Internet Research Agency’s active measures (Tricia Jenkins, War on the Rocks)
In March, after a more than yearlong investigation into Russian active measures used during the 2016 presidential campaign, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released its final report. The report asserted that the primary goal of Russia’s covert influence campaign through social media platforms was to “sow discord in American society” and to undermine citizens’ faith in the democratic process rather than to support a particular candidate. The committee also posited that while Russia actively supported “fringe political parties” and disparaged candidates seen as “hostile to Moscow” in Europe, this was not the case in the United States. Instead, the report summary asserted that the Russians had not favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton during the election, despite what the broader U.S. intelligence community had previously reported.

Trump, his critics, and the basic divide over the FBI (Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor)
President Trump has been attacking his own Federal Bureau of Investigation for months. The fundamental assumption behind many of his charges is this: In its actions regarding the Russia probe, the bureau is propelled by political bias against him. The notion of an anti-Trump cabal within the FBI plotting to ensnare him strikes Trump critics and many legal experts as far-fetched. There’s little evidence such a group exists, they say. If it does, it managed to bungle the job – forgetting to make public much information about the Trump campaign and Russia until after the election was over.

Russia is back in Africa — and making some very odd deals (Marcel Plichta, Defense One)
Since December, Moscow has struck major deals in the Central African Republic with both government and rebel leaders.

Why companies complying with U.S. sanctions in Russia could be sanctioned too (Coda Story)
Russian lawmakers have approved a law restricting American imports in retaliation for new U.S. sanctions on the country. An additional measure still under consideration could put any executive working in Russia who complies with U.S. sanctions in jail for up to four years if it gets final approval from the Duma, the Russian parliament.

Trial exposes connections between cybercriminals and Russian government (Rachel Weiner, Stars and Stripes)
In 2013, Jurijs Martisevs says, he was contacted by Russian law enforcement. The agents from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, told him the U.S. government was seeking information on him, Martisevs testified in court last week. But he said the Russians did not want to hand him over - they wanted his help.

Can the 2018 elections be hacked? Experts think so, & here we go again (Bernadette Deron, Elite Daily)
With the 2018 midterm elections approaching this fall (and primaries going on throughout the year — check your local elections), the question of whether or not the United States’ voting systems are secure enough to ensure correct results is being widely debated. The Washington Post elected to interview a number of experts on whether or not they believe the upcoming elections can be hacked. According to a majority of those cybersecurity experts, the 2018 midterms are at risk of being hacked, which is just great.

Twitter bots helped Trump and Brexit win, economic study says (Jeanna Smialek, Bloomberg)
Twitter bots may have altered the outcome of two of the world’s most consequential elections in recent years, according to an economic study.

Mystery in Mueller probe: Where’s the hacking indictment? (Morgan Chalfant, The Hill)
In the year since the start of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, one thing has been notably absent: a public indictment of any Russians for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).