Thursday, October 20, 2016

Are We On The Verge of A U.S. - Russia Cyberwar?

Cyberwar games at the United States Military Academy.
(Photo: Michael Falco for The New York Times)

Trevor Timm, The Guardian: If the US hacks Russia for revenge, that could lead to cyberwar

The US should attempt to de-escalate tensions by negotiating some form of international cyber treaty before this gets out of control

That’s the CIA’s brilliant plan for stopping Russian cyber-attacks on the US and their alleged interference with the US election? Apparently, some in the agency want to escalate tensions between the two superpowers even more and possibly do the same thing right back to them.

NBC News reported late last week that the CIA is working up blueprints for an “unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia”, and it sounds a lot like they’re planning on leaking documents on Vladimir Putin, just as the Russians are accused of doing to the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.

NBC reported that former intelligence officials said “the agency had gathered reams of documents that could expose unsavory tactics by Russian President Vladimir Putin” and another former official said the US “should … expose the financial dealings of Putin and his associates”.

Read more ....

Update: Could Obama’s Threat of Retaliation against Russia Lead to Cyberwar? (Larry Greenemeier, Scientific American).

WNU Editor: I sad it before .... and I will say it again. If the U.S. starts to launch cyber attacks on Russia, the Russians will know and they will retaliate. Where it will go after that .... I do not know. But I do know that if the U.S. wants to starts such a conflict, they better make the case for it now .... because they have certainly provided no evidence, and their remarks that we should trust them .... considering the high stakes that are involved .... are IMHO not good enough.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

All because some Democrats were deservedly exposed and embarrassed...I hope this doesn't get us all killed. Also not a very "covert" attack at all...what an idiotic time we live in

Unknown said...

Anon,

It will get us all killed.

Count on it.

Come on now, admit you vote liberal.

B.Poster said...

Given the stakes, the prior history of errors, and the willingness of US Intelligence Services to serve as political hacks, I would agree these claims need to be treated with extreme skepticism.

I would also add that allegations that the US "cooked" intel on Al Qaeda and others that have limited sourcing should also be treated with extreme skepticism as well. In other words, claims that would paint the Russians in the worst possible light are rightly greeted with extreme circumspection. Those that paint the Americans in the worst possible light are typically not greeted with the same level of caution but tend to be accepted automatically or very near automatically as truth. If we are going to get anywhere in resolving the issues between the two countries, it would be extrenely helpful if this is changed.