Bloomberg: Microsoft Thwarts Russia Hackers Targeting GOP Critics of Trump
* Attackers created websites mimicking U.S. political groups
* Company’s discovery comes as American elections approach
Microsoft Corp. has detected and seized web domains created by cyber-attackers linked to the Russian military, in a potential attempt to manipulate and disrupt the U.S. midterm elections.
The shadowy group, known as Strontium, created domains that mimicked organizations such as the International Republican Institute and Hudson Institute so intended victims would believe they were receiving emails or visiting real sites, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post. Microsoft said it’s sifting through evidence of the group’s intentions after getting a court order to take over those domains, effectively disrupting the hacking campaign.
The two targeted institutions are conservative bastions, which at times have been at odds with Russia or U.S. President Donald Trump. Russia rejected Microsoft’s accusations that it was attempting to influence upcoming U.S. elections, which will determine control of Congress, Interfax reported Tuesday, citing an unidentified diplomatic official.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The domain names used to target these two conservative groups were .... my-iri.org and hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com, and that three domains — senate.group, adfs-senate.services and adfs-senate.email were also set up by these hackers. The Hudson Institute's web address is https://www.hudson.org/, and the International Republican Institute's web address is http://www.iri.org/. When I look at the web address of these two conservative groups, and the web addresses that the hackers had set up .... sorry .... but I do not see how these hackers could have succeeded in diverting traffic away from the two conservative groups that are alleged to be targeted. Their sites would not have been indexed or ranked by Google, and if they were used through a mass phishing campaign, they would have been spotted right away. That is why I am not surprised that Microsoft is also saying that these sites were not used in any attack or illegal activity .... because from what I see there was zero chance of success. Microsoft has also not shown any images of what these sites looked like before they were spotted and taken down (there is only a blank page at these web addresses). Which is strange because it would have only bolstered their case. So why all the media attention on this story now? You tell me.
More News On Microsoft Claiming That They Have Thwarted Russia Hackers Targeting GOP Critics Of President Trump
Russian hackers targeted U.S. Senate, think tanks: Microsoft -- Reuters
New Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups, Microsoft Says -- The New York Times
Microsoft says it has found a Russian operation targeting U.S. political institutions -- Washington Post
Microsoft uncovers more Russian attacks ahead of midterms -- AP
Microsoft Says Russian Operation Targeted U.S. Conservative Groups As Midterms Loom -- NPR
Russians targeted Senate and conservative think tanks, Microsoft says -- CNN
Microsoft claims win over 'Russian political hackers' -- BBC
I can not see any reason that a huge reputable firm such as Microsoft would make that claim without being able to back it up...what have they to gain by concocting a story?
ReplyDeleteI suspect, then, you are defending Russia against Microsoft
ReplyDeleteLast week, Microsoft received a federal court's permission to take down malicious websites that mimicked the login pages of the Senate, Microsoft's own Office 365 email platform and two conservative think tanks, the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute.
ReplyDeleteشركة تنظيف ستائربالرياض
شركة تنظيف السجاد بالرياض
شركة غسيل كنب بالرياض
ارخص شركة تنظيف منازل بالرياض
شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالرياض
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالرياض
ارخص شركة تركيب مكيفات بالرياض
I wonder if this is the same Microsoft that calls me once a month (with a strong Indian/Pakistani accent) to tell me that my computer has been infected...
ReplyDeleteFred,
ReplyDeleteI am not defending Russia.
I just want Microsoft to provide more information, because what they have provided publicly works against and undermines their case.
As for a US judge to permit a seizure of a domain. This happens everyday. Nothing new there
Why the media attention? 1.)If one can convince people that critics of Trump are being targeted by Russia, they can then bolster the claim that POTUS is colluding with Russia or whatever. This would give the critics more credibility at least in their eyes and the thinking is it would make it harder for POTUS and his team to "counterpunch" against any attacks. After all Trump is "Putin's puppet" or whatever.
ReplyDeleteThis really isn't surprising. At this point all the critics of POTUS really have left is personal attacks having essentially lost the battle based upon policies. They seem to have pinned their hopes on personal attacks, made up claims, and other subterfuge in the hopes that something will stick. All the while they never have to submit evidence to support such claims.
As for Microsoft, one of two possibilities. 1.)To be a large organization one often has to go along to get along with government much of which has decided they do not want Trump as their president and will do anything by hook or crook it appears to oust him. As such, an organization may find it very hard to resist when these people come knocking. 2.)Microsoft executives are members of the cult. History is replete with bizarre and destructive behaviors by members of a cult.
troll at work...never relent, right trollster?
ReplyDeleteevidence had to be presented to the court..they were convinced. Poster of course in denial, as his job requires.
ReplyDeletehere, another court finding:
Author of Trump-Russia dossier wins libel case in US court
Suit against Christopher Steele by three Russian oligarchs thrown out by judge
I’m with you Fred, we’ll find those WMD’s one of these days, just gotta keep vigilant.
DeleteFred,
ReplyDeleteYou have no evidence to support your claims. As such, you must resort to insults and character defamations.
As for the court case, it is almost impossible especially for a prominent person to win a defamation case in US courts as US courts almost always err on the side of the accusers first amendment rights. Anyone with experience in such matters knows this. As such, that really doesn't impress me much.
Given the severity of the accusations and the steps we are being asked to take based upon them, simply trust us is not going to be enough. The evidence will need to be submitted to the American people as well as all sources and methods involved in obtaining such evidence. Otherwise the actions they are espousing simply cannot be supported. Also, the lack of credibility of such people is an additional problem.
"Troll at work...never relent. right trollster." Having lost the argument based upon its merits you must now resort to cute snarky insults. I explain above why Microsoft may have signed onto these actions. To try and explain the need of a large organization to sometimes go along to get along with the government and the fact that the government is generally hostile to Trump is like to trying to explain that the sky is blue. Also, there are members of the cult but I think the first explanation is the most reasonable.
Lapides,
ReplyDeleteYou still have not answered my two questions.
Seems years ago what are your questions?
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft fakes Russian hacking and courts support their closing down sites and Russia fully innocent so no more Microsoft products for some here
ReplyDeleteWhat stupidity
Join in with Russian troll here
You deserve each other