Trump Wins ‘Lie of the Year’

A few years ago, Politifact named President Obama’s statement that “you can keep your doctor,” the website’s Lie of the Year. This year that dubious honor will go to President Trump for his repeated denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“When the nation’s commander-in-chief refuses to acknowledge a threat to U.S. democracy, it makes it all the more difficult to address the problem,“ Politifact said. “For this reason, we name Trump’s claim that the Russia interference is a hoax as our Lie of the Year for 2017.”

At times, the president has conceded that Russia meddled in the election, but as recently as last month Trump said that he believed Russian President Putin’s claim that Russia did not have a role in the election interference. At the same time, Trump said that he also believed US intelligence agencies who have pinned the blame for the cyberattacks squarely on Putin’s government.

There are two separate Russia tracks to the Russia story. The first is the accusation that Russia interfered with the election through “fake news,” the hacking of Democrat emails and cyberattacks on the voting infrastructure. There is ample evidence to support this aspect of the Russia story, which was the subject of a report released by US intelligence agencies last January. Many Trump Administration officials, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary James Mattis and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, have all confirmed Russia’s meddling in the election.

The second aspect to the Russia story is the possibility of collusion by members of the Trump campaign. Collusion has not been confirmed, but campaign emails show that members of the Trump campaign were open to working with Putin’s Russia.

In September, the president called the Russia hacking story a “hoax” in a tweet. The tweet addressed Russian ads on Facebook, part of the Russian meddling story rather than the collusion claims.

Trump acknowledged that Russia had attacked the election last January, but waffled on the issue afterward. In July, the president said, “It could have very well been Russia but it could well have been other countries and I won't be specific but I think a lot of people interfered.”

Originally published on The Resurgent

Massive Cyberattack Rocks Business World

A broad cyberattack featuring a ransomware program that encrypts infected computer files is spreading rapidly from Russia to Europe and the Americas. More than 2,000 computer systems are known to be infected at this point.

The New York Times reports that the attack has infected numerous systems in the Ukraine including radiation monitoring at Chernobyl, several government ministries, and local banks and transit systems. Other companies that were reportedly attacked include the Danish shipping company, Maersk, the American pharmaceutical company, Merck, and Rosneft, a state-owned Russian oil company.

The Times reports that infected computers display a black screen with red text that reads, “Oops, your important files have been encrypted. If you see this text then your files are no longer accessible because they have been encrypted. Perhaps you are busy looking to recover your files but don’t waste your time.”

The Kapersky Lab, a cybersecurity firm headquartered in Moscow and own by a British corporation, said that it had tentatively identified the ransomware as a new strain of the Petya computer virus that was compiled on June 18, 2017. Some researchers are calling the new strain “NotPetya” because it is significantly different from the original virus.

NotPetya has the potential to be much more problematic than the WannaCry virus that fizzled earlier this year. According to Forbes, the new virus can even attack Windows systems that have security patches that are up to date. Even computers running Windows 10 are reported to be vulnerable. NotPetya can even extract passwords and use them to spread the infection to other computers.

The source of the NotPetya is unknown, but is presumed to be cybercriminals rather than a state actor. The program demands a ransom payment payable in bitcoin. At least 22 payments have been made, but Forbes reports that the email address set up to provide keys has been shut down by the provider, leaving owners of infected computer systems few options in recovering their files.

NotPetya has yet to run its course. “This is going to be a big one. Real big one,” cybersecurity expert David Kennedy told Forbes. 

Originally published on The Resurgent

Trump Tweets Against Obama Handling of Russia Hacking

Yesterday President Trump launched into tweetstorm against Barack Obama’s handling of Russian cyberattacks during the 2016 election. The twitter rant may have been a response to a weekend story in the Washington Post, an outlet that the president called “fake news” in a tweet today, that detailed Barack Obama’s lackluster handling of cyberattacks that were well-known long before the election.

“The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win,” President Trump tweeted on Monday. “And did not want to ‘rock the boat.’ He didn't ‘choke,’ he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good,” the president continued in a second tweet.

The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017

...and did not want to "rock the boat." He didn't "choke," he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017

“The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia under a magnifying glass, they have zero ‘tapes’ of T people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given apology!” Trump’s third and fourth tweets said.

The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017

..under a magnifying glass, they have zero "tapes" of T people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given apology!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017

In a final tweet on the subject, Trump cited a Fox News story, saying, “From @FoxNews "Bombshell: In 2016, Obama dismissed idea that anyone could rig an American election."  Check out his statement - Witch Hunt!” Trump did not provide a link to the story, but a Fox News clip on YouTube does show then-President Obama saying precisely what Trump said he did.

From @FoxNews "Bombshell: In 2016, Obama dismissed idea that anyone could rig an American election."  Check out his statement - Witch Hunt!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017

The Trump tweets signal an important shift in Trump’s position on the Russian cyberattacks. From the earliest reports of the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Trump has denied reports of Russian involvement. Two months after the election and after being presented with evidence by intelligence officials, Trump released a statement on January 6 that blamed “Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people” for the hacking. Since then, Trump has backtracked, calling the “Russia story” a “hoax” and “fake news” on numerous occasions. Now, as information emerges that is damaging to Barack Obama, President Trump changes his tune.

President Trump is on the mark with this series of tweets. While there is so far no evidence that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to throw the election, the scandal of Russian cyberattacks has become more frightening as details emerge about the extent of the Russian hacking which very nearly compromised voting machine software and voter databases. President Obama’s fecklessness in the face of the cyberattack on the core of American democracy is a major part of the story.

Although much of the blame for the response to the attack lies with the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration carries a share of the blame as well. Trump’s denials of Russian meddling in the election have undoubtedly emboldened the Putin regime, which has also attacked elections in European countries. Russian hacking in Ukraine has taken an even more ominous turn where banks and electric companies have been targeted. Russian hacking has been responsible for blackouts in the Ukraine in apparent test runs for malware that is to be used elsewhere.

The Trump Administration response to Russia’s cyberattacks has not been encouraging. While Congress is attempting to pass a new bill imposing sanctions on Russian citizens and organizations tied to cyberattacks and hacking, but there are reports that the Trump Administration is working against the bill. The silence on the hacking from the Trump Administration has been deafening. Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has said, “I do not see any indication that Mr. Putin would want a positive relationship with us,” is an exception.

While Trump is correct that there is no evidence of illegal collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, he is also correct in his admission that there is ample evidence that Russia meddled with American elections in an unprecedented way and that President Obama bungled the response.

The Russian cyberattacks demand a response and American electoral systems, power grids and financial institutions need to be protected from future attacks. The responsibility for a response and protection from future attacks falls on Mr. Trump’s shoulders.  

Originally published on The Resurgent