Russia’s other troll team; cyber warfare & real warfare; Gore’s lessons for Trump, and more
Even as the 2018 midterm election draws closer, Facebook does not appear to have increased its oversight of event listings the way it has done for posts and political ads — other elements of the platform that have been co-opted by Russian forces seeking to stoke social and political unrest in the United States. Facebook has hired thousands of moderators and is building tools to review content. The company largely relies on existing group administrators to police those who join their groups and promote their events.
White House drafting sanctions order to punish foreign interference in U.S. elections (Shane Harris, Josh Dawsey, and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post)
The White House is drafting an executive order that would authorize President Trump to sanction foreigners who interfere in U.S. elections, the administration’s latest effort to demonstrate it is serious about combating Russian disinformation and hacking.
The eight-page draft order, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, appears to be an effort to stave off aggressive legislation, including a bill introduced in Congress this month — and to quell criticism that Trump seems to give more credence to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials of interference than to U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that the Kremlin sought to undermine the 2016 election.
Trump has been under increasing pressure from his advisers to condemn Russia’s aggression, said current and former administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. His reluctance to do so is viewed internally as a liability, they said.
One White House official emphasized that the document is a draft and that it could change but said it showed Trump is intent on safeguarding U.S. elections. “Everybody knows something has to get done,” said a former senior administration official. “It has been a touchy subject.”
Trump could learn from Gore on how to handle an election interference scandal (Andy Wright, Just Security)
A foreign adversary trying to curry favor with a major American political party. Surreptitious and illegal efforts to influence the election in that party’s favor. A national officeholder and White House staff targeted. A resulting political furor, followed by criminal and congressional investigations. Replace Russia with China, the 2016 election with 1996, and President Donald Trump with Vice President Al Gore, and there are disturbing parallels. But unlike Trump, the Clinton-Gore White House adopted an approach of reasonable, albeit begrudging, accommodation of investigators, including Gore’s voluntary participation in an interview with federal prosecutors. It was a better legal strategy to protect Gore, and much healthier for the country, than Trump’s scorched earth attacks on intelligence and law enforcement professionals.
This is accused Russian spy Maria Butina’s secret money man in Moscow, sources say (Betsy Woodruff and Allison Quinn)
When the accused infiltrator of the NRA needed cash, she turned to Igor Pisarsky, two sources familiar with her activities tell the Daily Beast.
Russia’s other troll team (Ben Nimmo, Medium)
Mueller points to existence of second Russian troll operation focused on activist groups and foreign policy
This Russian spy agency is in the middle of everything (Amy Knight, Daily Beast)
Only a few years ago, the GRU looked like it might be dissolved. But Putin found new uses for it: covert war in Ukraine and ‘active measures’ that helped Trump get elected.
The Kremlin is quaking as new sanctions multiply (Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast)
Putin’s instinct is to prepare for a long and painful siege, but the Russian people may not be up for that.
When would Russia’s cyber warfare morph into real warfare? Refer to the Tallinn manual (James Conca, Forbes)
Like a hippo being nibbled to death by a thousand piranha, the United States is an old cyber behemoth bleeding from the savvy carnivores of the digital age. Our regulations are not current, our defenses are not adequate and our people’s understanding is not sufficient. We are wide open to attack.
It is no wonder that Russia has developed a suite of more and more effective cyber weapons that are being used against the United States and several other nations around the world. With impunity.
But what happens if those attacks succeed too well? What if a cyberattack causes a blackout for 100 million people in the United States and a thousand people die as a result of no electricity for life-support systems, critical care or just panic? Do we go to actual war? Do we just respond in cyber-kind? Are there guidelines for this kind of thing?
