Russian Hackers' New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator

[bucolic_frolic]

Source: Daily Beast

The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals. That makes the Missouri Democrat the first identified target of the Kremlin’s 2018 election interference.

McCaskill, who has been highly critical of Russia over the years, is widely considered to be among the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing re-election this year as Republicans hope to hold their slim majority in the Senate. In 2016, President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by almost 20 points in the senator’s home state of Missouri.

~~~~~

The revelations of the attempted hack of McCaskill staffers comes just weeks after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers, accusing them of orchestrating cyberattacks that targeted the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

On Friday, Trump is scheduled to chair a meeting of the National Security Council on election vulnerabilities facing the midterm elections—amid persistent criticism, particularly after his Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that he isn’t taking Russian interference seriously.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-hackers-new-target-a-vulnerable-democratic-senator

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We are at war! GRU targeting a U.S. Senator.

[FreepFryer]

1. If only she had Franken by her side. He knew how to handle them. (n/t)

[TomCADem]

19. Yup, Just Get Folks to Spread Discord On the Left

By attacking Democrats and the Democratic Party from the “left”.

[FreepFryer]

22. Exactly. If only they had had their eyes on the prize instead of the great Senator from Minn. (n/t)

[TomCADem]

23. Totally Agree Comrade. Trolls will hijack threads...

... to try to spread discord, so progressives should be on the watch for such transparent tactics.

Yesterday, it was “supporters” of Greenwald or jill Stein. Now, it’s folks who “walked away” from the Democratic Party.

[FreepFryer]

28. I'm not a troll, I've earned my bones. Don't call me a troll by calling me comrade.

It is perfectly within the realm of Democratic Party discourse for me to articulate that if McCaskill still had Franken as a colleague in the Senate, she would have a strong ally in this defense. Instead, she appeared to lead the charge to remove him, whatever the Russia situation. On its face, I consider that a very bad strategic decision - hence my post.

Sorry you apparently couldn’t muster the good faith enough to listen to my point of view without tarring me a traitor... but that says more about your lack of willingness to entertain a discussion than my loyalty.

[TomCADem]

29. Don't Be Fooled: How to Spot a Russian Bot on Social Media

Thank you comrade for changing the narrative of this post to attack on McCaskill by bringing up Franken. Well done.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spot-russian-bot-social-media/

Spotting paid-shills is more difficult as the onus is on the account maintaining the appearance of a regular social media user. Posts promoting a certain topic or shaping the online conversation might come among regular mundane discussion points to not create suspicion.

Some common tactics include:

* Changing the narrative of a hot topic toward something that promotes the agenda of whoever paid for the shill
* Consistently attacking something that wasn’t part of the initial conversation (sometimes called “whataboutism,” where a shill argues using terms such as “but what about when X did Y”)

[FreepFryer]

30. Or, this is my valid point of view and I'm an actual American and Democrat. Check yourself (n/t)

[TomCADem]

31. CNET - How Russian trolls lie their way to the top of your news feed

As explained in the OP regarding McCaskill, and this article, be watchful for "progressives" who concern troll and undercut support for Democrats by bringing up unrelated stories to undercut support for Democrats like McCaskill, as well as draw attention from articles like the OP, which illustrate the efforts of foreign actors to attack Senators who are willing to stand up to Russia.

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-twitter-social-media-russian-troll-politics-chaos/

But over the last few years, trolls learned how to turn trending moments into a tool for spreading misinformation. The same way that videos of cute cats spread online, trolls have figured out how to tap into what makes people want to share on social media and use it to popularize outrage and fake news.

The fallout is more serious than a spot on a daytime talk show -- it's widely believed that the rapid spread of fake news and increasingly divisive environment online swayed the 2016 US presidential election. Now Facebook and Twitter face criticism that they've lost control of their platforms as algorithms promote fake news as "trending topics."

For Russia especially, viral content has become a powerful weapon. In September, Twitter discovered 201 Russian-linked accounts dedicated to spreading fake outrage, while Facebook found about 500 accounts doing the same. These accounts pretended to be gun rights advocates and Black Lives Matter activists, taking up both sides of debates, with the primary goal to make noise. All together, the fake accounts on Facebook had been seen more than 10 million times, and that was just for sponsored content.

If fake news is meant to misinform people, fake fights are designed to divide and distract. By spreading outrage, Russian trolls are able to bury legitimate news while driving people further apart. The conflict helps countries effectively control their propaganda, a key strategy detailed in Russia's military doctrine approved in 2014.

[FreepFryer]

32. Wow. Here are none so blind as those who insist they see. (n/t)

[rurallib]

2. Calling out Hawley(?) for working with the Russians

should make for delightful campaigning.

[SunSeeker]

3. K & R for exposure.

[sandensea]

4. And this WILL NOT be limited to just her office computers.

Last edited Thu Jul 26, 2018, 06:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Once Election Day comes around, the GRU (plus maybe Bibi) will start flipping votes like Missouri flapjacks.

[ananda]

5. *This*

..

[karin_sj]

6. Yes!!

This is the biggest thing to worry about for everyone during the 2018 mid-term elections. And this administration has not done ANYTHING to try and prevent this from happening—in fact, just the opposite

[sandensea]

9. Stands to reason: these smug bastards are COUNTING on the vote being hacked, flipped, and jacked.

I was a genius move by these GOPee brigands to use the Florida butterfly ballot mess in 2000 as a pretext - the perfect pretext - to impose easily-hacked, read-and-write software powered voting machines to which, of course, only they have the souce code.

It's Jim Crow-style ballot stuffing, but for the modern age - and best of all: very hard to prove.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Every county has election officials and

League of Women Voters monitors polling in many areas. Pressure should be put on these folks to explain, understand, and look for glitches now and often. They might hold a key, to squeak out some additional measure of integrity here or there.

We're on our own.

[elmac]

8. Total war has been declared by putin and his GOP agents

we must all declare war on them, do everything in our power, any means to stop them. The fascist government will not help

[KPN]

10. With GOP and WH assistance!

We aren’t just at war. We are also in the midst of a civil war — and many Americans don’t even know it!x

[Snellius]

11. Does this fall within the scope of Mueller's investigation?

Or is it another FBI case?

[Gothmog]

12. Statement from Senator McCaskill

Link to tweet

[BigmanPigman]

15. "Putin is a thug and a bully"...

That is the understatement of the century.

[dhol82]

14. I guess your attitude might get us a Republican Senator.

[riversedge]

26. Hoping those with that attitude just stay quiet.

[NBachers]

17. At this point, it's crucial to wake up & support our Democratic candidate. I'll post a donation link

If Claire McCaskill loses this election, a republican will take her place.

https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/12896

Go ahead - try it out - It's so simple, even I can do it. I just did. You can too.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. There is exactly the two-sided slap in the face to Democrats

Your motives are transparent. Sewing discord. Wonder who does that? An almost new member. Hmmm.

[TomCADem]

20. Thank you Sergei for your support!

Nt

[PSPS]

21. LOL. Thanks for your "concern." How's the weather there in St. Petersburg?

[redstateblues]

27. Welcome to DU Comrade

[BadGimp]

16. #PutinsWinsAgain and the GOP is now #ThePartyOfPutin

[blue-wave]

24. Blast this info

all over the state of Missouri. Especially in the deep red areas. Let's see if those who put the tang head in office will start voting like American patriots.

[riversedge]

25. k for visibility