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FBI, DHS Ignored Far-Right Dangers Ahead of Trump Riot (W. J. Henniga, Time Magazine)
Even as Congress’ law enforcement and security officials were held accountable for what they did, or perhaps didn’t do, attention turned to the lack of apparent response from immense federal agencies run by President Trump, like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or FBI.
It’s not like these agencies, which after 9/11 were granted sweeping authorities and capabilities to unearth terror plots and suspects, weren’t aware of the threat. On Oct. 6, DHS issued its first-ever “Homeland Threat Assessment” that said far-right extremists pose the largest threat to the U.S. homeland, other than adversarial nation-states. In what now reads like an ominous warning, the 26-page document said that domestic extremists “might target events related to the 2020 Presidential campaigns, the election itself, election results, or the post-election period” and that they “could mobilize quickly to threaten or engage in violence.” It identified open-air events, “such as campaign-associated mass gatherings” as “the most likely flash points for potential violence.”
It was an unusually pointed statement by DHS, which under the Trump Administration has been pressured to downplay the threat posed by rightwing and white supremacist groups, according to former intelligence officials and whistleblowers. DHS and FBI did not return requests for comment, but security analysts say the federal government must prioritize far-right violence among homegrown threats.

According to a 2020 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the U.S. terror attacks and plots in 2019 and more than 90% between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2020. Far right extremists “are taking advantage of the fact that we’re all turning a blind eye to it,” said Elizabeth Neumann, who resigned from leading the DHS office that oversees responses to violent extremism last April. Domestic terrorism is not even a federal crime, forcing prosecutors to charge suspects under other laws, such as hate-crime laws. “A lot could be helped by some clear-cut messaging much as we did after the 9/11 attacks, defining the enemy, defining the threat and saying, ‘We’re not going to stand for this,’” Neumann said.

What Experts on Extremism Want From the Biden Administration (James D. Walsh, New York Magazine)
President Trump approached violent extremism the same way he approached climate change and the pandemic. He ignored it and then tended to it for political gain, even as his own security officials sounded the alarm. From his infamous “very fine people on both sides” remarks after Charlottesville, to his refusal to disavow QAnon conspiracists, to his incessant demands to “liberate” states where strict COVID-19 rules were in effect, to his defense of Kyle Rittenhouse, the militia member charged with killing two George Floyd protesters in Wisconsin, Trump made the country more vulnerable to far-right extremist violence. Experts agree Wednesday’s violence is an escalation, not a climax.
“This is an enduring issue for the rest of the country, not just Washington, D.C.,” said Javed Ali, a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. “Empirically, [Wednesday’s riot] showed a proof of concept — it worked. Beyond inauguration, what events, statehouses, or government buildings, will be subjected to this? People can swarm these places quite easily thanks to social media.”
On Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden called Wednesday’s rioters “domestic terrorists,” which some have interpreted as a willingness to give federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers broader authority to investigate and charge extremists. In recent years, lawmakers have debated whether a federal statute should criminalize domestic terrorism, simplifying the current process which requires prosecutors to make cases against violent extremists using a wide range of charges that often don’t explicitly mention the word terrorism, even when the crimes meet the federal definition of domestic terrorism. For example, prosecutors charged Christopher Hasson, a Coast Guard lieutenant who stockpiled arms and ammunition with the intent of carrying out a mass murder in the name of a white homeland, with firearms and drug charges despite the fact that prosecutors had explicitly called Hasson a domestic terrorist.

State Department Approves Creation of Cyber Bureau (Frank Konkel, Nextgov)
The Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies Bureau will address national security- and diplomatic-related tech issues.

Pentagon Releases Strategy for Countering Small Drones (Mila Jasper, Nexgov)
The strategy’s accompanying implementation plan is set for release later this month, DOD officials said.

‘She was deep into it’: Ashli Babbitt, killed in Capitol riot, was devoted conspiracy theorist (Lois Beckett and Vivian Ho, Guardian)
Babbitt, shot by police on Wednesday, saw storming of Capitol as a pivotal moment for the country

Chinese Students in the US Caught Up in Geopolitics and Trump’s Immigration Crackdown (Rong Xiaoqing, Documented)
Thousands of students fled or decided not to come to the U.S. over Trump’s crackdown on Chinese nationals and immigration policies

Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready.(Logan Jaffe et al., Defense One)
Insurrectionists made no effort to hide their intentions, but law enforcement protecting Congress was caught flat-footed.

More Than a Week Later, FBI Avoids Terror Label for Bombing(Kimberlee Krusel and Eric Tucker, AP)
The FBI investigation into whether the Nashville bombing was a terrorist act has sparked criticism about a possible racial double standard and drawn questions from downtown business owners whose insurance coverage could be affected by the bureau’s assessment.
More than a week after an explosion that struck at the heart of a major American city, the FBI has resisted labeling it an act of terrorism, an indication that evidence gathered so far does not conclusively establish that the bomber was motivated by political ideology — a key factor in any formal declaration of terrorism. The bureau is still examining evidence and has not announced any conclusions, but investigators are known to be reviewing whether Anthony Warner believed in conspiracy theories involving aliens and 5G cellphone technology.

U.S. Capitol Now More Vulnerable as a Result of Wednesday’s Mob Attack, Former DHS Official Says(Patrick Tucker, Defense One)
A lack of coordination among authorities was evident and will make securing the seat of legislature harder.

Trump Orders Pompeo to Consider Banning Antifa Members from Entering U.S.(Joshua Rhett Miller, New York Post)
President Trump has signed an executive order asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to determine if the far-left group Antifa can be classified a terrorist organization — and to bar its members from entering the country.

What Are Sources of Iran’s Financing of Terrorist Groups?(Cyrus Yaqubi, Eurasia Review)
Mohammad Reza Naghdi, deputy coordinator of the IRGC, admitted that Iran has spent billions of dollars in the region over the past 30 years, in an interview with “Studio Negah Yek”, of the first channel of Iranian TV.

‘Far-Right’ Extremist Jailed for Threatening to Shoot MP Who Backed Second Brexit Vote(George Martin, Yahoo)
A far-right extremist has been jailed for threatening to shoot and kill North East MP Bridget Phillipson over her support for a second Brexit referendum.
Colin Brown, who was mentally unwell and had a previous conviction for verbally abusing council staff, said he wanted to make an example of Phillipson, who represents Houghton and Sunderland South.

Huawei Fallout—Serious New China Threat Strikes at Google, Samsung and Apple(Zak Doffman, Forbes)
It is now clear that the fallout from the latest U.S. sanctions against Huawei will reshape the global smartphone industry in 2021, impacting Google, Samsung and Apple, potentially giving China more influence over the global technology sector than it has ever had before. Put simply, the downside risks from America blacklisting one of the world’s largest smartphone makers are now becoming very real.
While there are no tears being shed at Huawei HQ in Shenzhen for Donald Trump’s imminent departure from the White House, there is not yet any cause for optimism either. Huawei has fought the blacklist for the best part of two years, and it remains unclear exactly what size and shape of business will survive.
Chinese Bids on Pacific Cable Raise Alarm in U.S. and Australia

Washington fears infrastructure will be used for spying by Beijing

A Cyber Opportunity: Priorities for the First National Cyber Director(Mark Montgomery and Robert Morgus, War ion the Rocks)
Despite the negative headlines surrounding the SolarWinds hack, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will soon inherit an executive branch moving slowly in the right direction on cyber security. But there is still a great deal of work to do to accelerate the pace of change in pursuit of improved federal cyber security as well as public-private collaboration on the issue. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 , which just became law, provides a number of the tools necessary to move the country forward, with nearly 70 cyber-related provisions, 27 of which implement recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s March 2020 report. The most urgent and important provision among all 70 is the creation of the Office of the National Cyber Director.

Nation’s Capital Braces for Violence as Extremist Groups Converge to Protest Trump’s Election Loss(Will Carless, USA Today)
Protests planned for Washington, D.C., this week are likely to attract large numbers of President Donald Trump’s supporters, including conspiracy theorists, militia groups and members of the extremist group the Proud Boys, raising concerns of violent confrontations.
The rallies are planned to coincide with the official congressional vote to certify the Electoral College votes from the November presidential election and declare President-elect Joe Biden the winner. Far-right groups from around the country have vowed to descend on the capital to protest the vote and attempt to pressure lawmakers into voting against certifying the results, an outcome that even the leaders of the effort admit is extraordinarily unlikely to happen.
Trump himself has amplified conspiracy theories about the election and encouraged his supporters to show up at the protests. “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted on December 18. On Sunday, the president again promoted the protests, writing on Twitter, “I will be there. Historic day!”

Cuba Warns US Against New Terror Designation(AFP / VOA)
Cuba on Wednesday warned the outgoing U.S. administration against redesignating the island as a state sponsor of terrorism, a move reportedly under discussion that could hinder President-elect Joe Biden’s diplomacy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reviewing the possibility before leaving office on January 20 of returning Cuba to the blacklist, which severely impedes foreign investment, a person familiar with the situation said.

Suspect in Queens Hoax Bomb Already under NYPD Investigation for Far-Right Stunts(Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst and Ben Collins, NBC News)
Louis Shenker is accused of placing a hoax bomb on a stolen Tesla with a husky dog locked inside that was found in a Queens parking garage.

France’s COVID Vaccine Rollout Is Going So Slowly It’ll Take 3,000 Years(Peter Yeung, Daily Beasy)
The latest confirmed number of vaccines administered in France is just 516, where a historic skepticism combined with a delayed roll out means anti-vaxx sentiment is on the rise.

Britain Failed. Again.(Tom McTague, The Atlantic)
The country has gone into lockdown once more. The current set of restrictions has more troubling reasons than the last.

Redefining Victory in America’s War against the Islamic State in Syria(Sam Heller, War on the Rocks)
You could be forgiven for thinking that, in Syria, the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL) has succeeded. The militant group’s territorial “caliphate” in Syria and neighboring Iraq has been erased from the map. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. Mission accomplished, no? And yet the United States is still nowhere near the benchmark the Donald Trump administration adopted for counter-ISIL victory in Syria: the jihadist organization’s “enduring defeat.”
That’s because enduring defeat, as the Trump administration defined it, involves not only incapacitating ISIL in Syria in military and security terms, but also extensive political and social change across Syria to prevent the organization’s future return. The administration thus defined victory in such implausible-seeming terms that, for the deployment of U.S. forces in eastern Syria, there is no end in sight.

The SolarWinds Hack Doesn’t Demand a Violent Response(Elizabeth Braw, Defense One)
Major retaliation is more likely to spur escalation than improve deterrence.

SolarWinds Breach Could Reshape Cybersecurity Practices(Kara Carlson, TechExplore)
As investigations continued into the massive data breach linked to Austin-based software company SolarWinds, experts say the attack could lead to long-term changes in cybersecurity policies and procedures for government entities and private companies alike.

New Terrorism Guide Shows FBI Still Classifying Black “Extremists” as Domestic Terrorism Threat(Jana Winter, Marquise Francis and Sean D. Naylor. Yahoo News)
More than three years after the FBI came under fire for claiming “Black identity extremists” were a domestic terrorism threat, the bureau has issued a new terrorism guide that employs almost identical terminology, according to a copy of the document obtained by Yahoo News.
The FBI’s 2020 domestic terrorism reference guide on “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism” identifies two distinct sets of groups: those motivated by white supremacy and those who use “political reasons — including racism or injustice in American society” to justify violence. The examples the FBI gives for the latter group are all Black individuals or groups.
The FBI document claims that “many” of those Black racially motivated extremists “have targeted law enforcement and the US Government,” while a “small number” of them “incorporate sovereign citizen Moorish beliefs into their ideology, which involves a rejection of their US citizenship based on a combination of sovereign citizen ideology, religious beliefs, and black separatist rhetoric.”

The Telegram App Gives Voice to the Oppressed in Belarus and Russia. but Hate Groups Are Using It Too.(Michael Scollon, RFE/RL)
In a year marked by tightened restrictions and unrest, Telegram sent a clear message to authoritarian governments who tried to keep it quiet in 2020. But as the app, which has earned a reputation as a free-speech platform, looks to spread the word in Iran and China, its popularity among messengers of violence and hate remains a concern.
Telegram has emerged as an essential tool for opposition movements in places like Belarus and Iran and won a huge victory when the Russian authorities gave up on their effort to ban the app after two fruitless years during which senior officials continued to use it themselves.
But protesters and open media are not the only ones who find sanctuary in a tool like Telegram. Terrorists, hate groups, and purveyors of gore also see the benefits of encrypted group chats that can reach large audiences without censorship.

As Understanding of Russian Hacking Grows, So Does Alarm(David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth and Julian E. Barnes, New York Times)
Those behind the widespread intrusion into government and corporate networks exploited seams in U.S. defenses and gave away nothing to American monitoring of their systems.

Cyberattack on U.S. Government Is Just Part of a Vast and Ignored Russian Threat(Rebekah Koffle, Washington Times)
Russia’s recent mass-scale cyber intelligence operation, targeting multiple government agencies, corporations and think tanks, was a catastrophic event.
The Russians compromised vital U.S. infrastructure, defense and technology industries, and critical government agencies, such as the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Energy and Treasury. The attackers exhibited highly sophisticated tradecraft, exceptional operational stealth, and extreme patience and determination. 
What very few Americans realize is that this is but a single page out of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war plan for defeating America. The success of this operation resulted from a failure to recognize the systemic Russian threat to the United States and treat it with the seriousness it requires. While the American leadership class is focused on the long-range threat from China and fantasies about Mr. Putin deputizing President Trump as a secret agent, the present and ongoing danger from the Kremlin is frighteningly minimized.

Microsoft Says Russian Hackers Viewed Some of Its Source Code(Nicole Perlroth, New York Times)
The hackers gained more access than the company previously understood, though they were unable to modify code or get into its products and emails.

SolarWinds Hackers Accessed Microsoft Source Code, the Company Says(CNBC)
The hacking group behind the SolarWinds compromise was able to break into Microsoft and access some of its source code, Microsoft said on Thursday, something experts said sent a worrying signal about the spies’ ambition.
Source code — the underlying set of instructions that run a piece of software or operating system— is typically among a technology company’s most closely guarded secrets and Microsoft has historically been particularly careful about protecting it.

Relax: At Least the SolarWinds Hack Tells America It Has a Problem Worth Solving(John E. Dunn, Forbes)
If the great 2020 SolarWinds hack were a disaster movie it’d have a cast of thousands, star roles for The Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the US Treasury, and uncomfortable cameos for Microsoft, Cisco, Equifax, and aging starlet, FireEye. And yet despite the shock, don’t be surprised if everything returns to normal quickly after a closing of ranks.  People will quietly apportion blame and vested interests will quickly resurface. It’s in nobody’s interests to linger on the failings that made the attack possible, any more than it was after previous big attacks people have largely forgotten.

Everybody Spies in Cyberspace. The U.S. Must Plan Accordingly.(Amy Zegart, The Atlantic)
Because all countries engage in espionage, intrusions like Russia’s latest data hack are devilishly hard to deter. 

Ghost Town in Playas Provides High-Tech Testing for AFRL(Chris Clark, Loa Alamos Daily Post)
In a dusty ghost town in southern New Mexico, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is conducting some of its most important testing. Located in Hidalgo County, Playas was once a bustling “corporate town” built by the Phelps Dodge Corporation to house the workforce of a copper smelter built in 1971. Today, the Playas range provides a complete suburban setting in a 640-acre townsite with a full range of facilities.

Trump Ignores Jobs Data to Extend H-1B Visa and Immigration Bans(Stuart Anderson, Forbes)
Donald Trump ignored the low unemployment rate in computer occupations and other economic data to continue proclamations banning the entry of H-1B visa holders and nearly all categories of immigrants. The extension (until March 31, 2021) of the proclamations issued in April and June 2020 shows the danger of the authority under section 212(f), which critics say has allowed the president to override significant parts of U.S. immigration law based on personal ideology.

The Dark Reality of Betting Against QAnon(Ilana E. Strauss, The Atlantic)
The conspiracy theory has been tied to real-life danger—but before it entered the mainstream, one man stumbled upon Q in a game of political predictions

DHS, Husker Officials Talk Security of Nation’s Food System(Cara Pesek, Fence Post)
David Richardson, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, visited the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to discuss the security and safety of the U.S. food system.

With Hacking, the United States Needs to Stop Playing the Victim  (Paul R. Kolbe, New York Times)
The U.S. also uses cybertools to defend its interests. It’s the age of perpetual cyberconflict.

SolarWinds Hackers ‘Impacting’ State, Local Governments, US Cyber Agency Says(Reuters)
The U.S. cybersecurity agency said on Wednesday that a sprawling cyber espionage campaign made public earlier this month is affecting state and local governments, although it released few additional details.
The hacking campaign, which used U.S. tech company SolarWinds as a springboard to penetrate federal government networks, was “impacting enterprise networks across federal, state, and local governments, as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a statement posted to its website.

Dominion Voting Systems May Sue President Trump Personally for Spreading Election Fraud Disinformation  (Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News)
Get in line, buddy. Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos is not ruling out legal action against President Trump, whose surrogates have spent nearly two months alleging the Nov. 3 election, which Trump lost, may have been the result of compromised machines and software.
“We will not be overlooking anybody,” Poulos told CNN Thursday.
Lawyers for the president, who have offered no credible proof of claims being made against Dominion, reportedly received notice from the company’s attorney’s that all records dealing with Dominion should be preserved for “imminent” litigation.

Iran-Linked Hackers Say They Breached Israeli Cyber Security Firm Portnox(Times of Israel)
Pay2Key hacking group leaks documents from leading Israeli companies, latest in series of ransomware attacks tied to outfit researchers have traced to Iran

Firms Warned They “Wouldn’t Survive” Data Breach as a Third Fail to Train Staff  (Kalila Sangster, Yahoo)
Experts have warned that most UK businesses “would not survive” a data breach as a new report reveals that almost a third (28%) of firms do not provide essential cyber security training to help workers identify potential data breaches.
Some 28% of UK employees said that their company gave no cyber security training at all, according to the new Cyber Security Insights Report from security provider Iomart.

Emerging Threats in Healthcare Information Security  (Nikki Robinson, Touro College)
How Vulnerable Systems Lead to Cyber Attacks in Healthcare

Misinformation Spread By Anti-Science Groups Endangers COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts  (Kirk Siegler, NPR)
In some parts of the U.S., the biggest challenge surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t distribution, but convincing people to get it, as anti-science groups are spreading misinformation.

The History of Russia’s Cyberwarfare Against NATO Shows It Is Time to Add to NATO’s Article 5 (Brian E. Frydenborg, Real Context News)
Since cyberwarfare has become a thing, Russia has been the only serious perpetrator of cyberwarfare against members of the NATO military alliance, with its just-discovered massive SolarWinds cyberwarfare operation only the latest in a string of impunities.  It is long past time for NATO to view these as the acts of war that they are and to evolve accordingly.

Could Floating Cities Be a Haven as Coastlines Submerge?  (Daniel Cusick, E&E News / Scientific American)
“Seasteader” housing built on platforms would rise and fall with the tides, but practical challenges are huge

DHS Warns of Data Theft Risk Posed by Chinese Technology  (DHS)
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a business advisory to American businesses warning of risks associated with the use of data services and equipment from firms linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The PRC presents a grave threat to the data security of the U.S. government and U.S. businesses. It has both the intent and ability to covertly access data directly through entities under the influence or jurisdiction of PRC laws, often without the knowledge or consent of the non-PRC businesses or institutions that maintain rights to the data.
“For too long, U.S. networks and data have been exposed to cyber threats based in China which are using that data to give Chinese firms an unfair competitive advantage in the global marketplace,” said Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf. “Practices that give the PRC government unauthorized access to sensitive data – both personal and proprietary – puts the U.S. economy and businesses at direct risk for exploitation. We urge businesses to exercise caution before entering into any agreement with a PRC-linked firm.”

Oregon Case Reflects Extremists’ Need of Online Presence(AP / ABC News)
Federal authorities say a man supported the Islamic State group for years from a Portland, Oregon, suburb by helping the extremists maintain an online presence that encouraged attacks and sought recruits

FBI Links Iran to Online Hit List Targeting Top Officials Who’ve Refuted Trump’s Election Fraud Claims(Ellen Nakashima, Amy Gardner and Aaron C. Davis, Washington Post)
The FBI has concluded that Iran was behind online efforts earlier this month to incite lethal violence against the bureau’s director, a former top U.S. cyber expert and multiple state elections officials who have refuted claims of widespread voter fraud promoted by President Trump and his allies, federal and state officials said Tuesday.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and ousted Homeland Security Department official Christopher Krebs were among more than a dozen people whose ­images, home addresses and other personal information were posted on a website titled “Enemies of the People.” Crosshairs were superimposed over the photos.

More Hacking Attacks Found as Officials Warn of ‘Grave Risk’ to U.S. Government(David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, New York Times)
Minutes after the government statement, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. warned that his administration would impose “substantial costs” on those responsible. President Trump has been silent on the hacking.

SolarWinds Recap: All of the Federal Agencies Caught up in the Orion Breach(Sara Wilson, Cyberscoop)
The extent of the hacking campaign on the federal government by suspected Russian operatives through vulnerabilities in SolarWinds’ Orion software is becoming more clear as agencies publicly acknowledge breaches in their systems.
The SolarWinds hack has put agencies at risk of being surveilled or having data stolen for up to nine months, as users of the software who updated between March and June inadvertently added malware into their networks.

No, the United States Does Not Spend Too Much on Cyber Offense(Robert K. Knake, CFR)
Contrary to arguments that the United States spends too much on cyber offense, more spending on offensive and defensive capabilities could be in the cards for the future.

DHS to Issue China Data Security Warning to U.S. Businesses(Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios)
The Department of Homeland Security is set to issue an advisory to U.S. businesses, warning them of data security risks associated with using communications equipment and services from China-linked companies.
The big picture: The advisory comes as the Trump administration makes a final push on China, highlighting the administration’s emphasis on the risks posed by the close relationship between some Chinese companies and the Chinese government.

Former Election Security Official Says It Will Take ‘Years’ to Undo Disinformation(Pam Fessler, NPR)
One of the top federal officials responsible for securing the nation’s elections is speaking out days after leaving his job with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Matthew Masterson was a senior cybersecurity adviser at CISA, primarily responsible for elections, and his departure comes amid persistent, but baseless, claims that the 2020 elections were riddled with fraud. Many of those have come from President Trump, who last month fired Masterson’s former boss, Christopher Krebs, after Krebs joined others in calling the 2020 election the “most secure in American history.” Trump’s allegations have been widely disputed by election experts and numerous courts, where his campaign has tried unsuccessfully to overturn the election results.
In his first interview since leaving his job, Masterson told NPR that the biggest challenge for the nation now is restoring public faith in the voting process. Recent polls have shown that a large segment of the electorate, including a majority of Republicans, does not trust that this year’s results were legitimate.

Computer Hack Blamed on Russia Tests Limits of U.S. Response(Warren P. Strobel, Wall Street Journal)
It appears spying, not destruction, was the aim; U.S. officials have yet to define precise impact of the suspected Kremlin intrusion.

Trump Contradicts Pompeo in Bid to Downplay Massive Hack of U.S. Government, Russia’s Role(Ellen Nakashima and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post)
President Trump addressed the ongoing cyber hacks of the U.S. government for the first time on Saturday, seeking to turn blame away from Moscow in defiance of mounting evidence while downplaying how devastating the intrusions appear to be.
In a bizarre outburst on Twitter that Trump’s critics condemned for its alarming disconnect from the facts, the president contradicted his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on Friday pinned the breaches that have afflicted at least five major federal agencies “clearly” on Russia. Rather, the president baselessly suggested that the true culprit “may be China (it may!).”
Trump’s aversion to calling out the Kremlin for its malign activities in cyberspace and his deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin has become a hallmark of his presidency. He has repeatedly trusted the word of Putin over the assessments of his own intelligence community, including its conclusion that Russia waged a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election — a verdict Trump believes calls into question the legitimacy of his victory four years ago.

How U.S. Agencies’ Trust in Untested Software Opened the Door to Hackers(Eric Geller, Politico)
The government doesn’t do much to verify the security of software from private contractors. And that’s how suspected Russian hackers got in.

She Called Police Over a Neo-Nazi Threat. But the Neo-Nazis Were Inside the Police.(Katrin Bennhold, New York Times)
Death threats linked to police computers and the discovery of far-right chat groups in police departments across Germany have fed concerns about far-right infiltration.

Lockdown Blamed as More Under-18s Held for Terror Offences in U.K. (Jamie Grierson, Guardian)
Referrals of rightwing content up 43% as police say young people being radicalised could be consequence of coronavirus