Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

T R E 4 5 O N

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

You are here: Home / Politics / domestic terrorists / The Maskirovka Slips V: The Counter-Threat

The Maskirovka Slips V: The Counter-Threat

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NBC News is reporting out that the US Government has taken steps to prepare to counter-strike a Russian cyber attack on election day next week.

U.S. military hackers have penetrated Russia’s electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin’s command systems, making them vulnerable to attack by secret American cyber weapons should the U.S. deem it necessary, according to a senior intelligence official and top-secret documents reviewed by NBC News.

American officials have long said publicly that Russia, China and other nations have probed and left hidden malware on parts of U.S critical infrastructure, “preparing the battlefield,” in military parlance, for cyber attacks that could turn out the lights or turn off the internet across major cities.

It’s been widely assumed that the U.S. has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News — along with remarks by a senior U.S. intelligence official — confirm that, in the case of Russia.

U.S. officials continue to express concern that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to try to disrupt next week’s presidential election. U.S. intelligence officials do not expect Russia to attack critical infrastructure — which many believe would be an act of war — but they do anticipate so-called cyber mischief, including the possible release of fake documents and the proliferation of bogus social media accounts designed to spread misinformation.

And

Brown and others have noted that the Obama administration has been extremely reluctant to take action in cyberspace, even in the face of what it says is a series of Russian hacks and leaks designed to manipulate the U.S. presidential election.

Administration officials did, however, deliver a back channel warning to Russian against any attempt to influence next week’s vote, officials told NBC News.

The senior U.S. intelligence official said that, if Russia initiated a significant cyber attack against critical infrastructure, the U.S. could take action to shut down some Russian systems — a sort of active defense.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis, who served as NATO commander of Europe, told NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden that the U.S. is well equipped to respond to any cyber attack.

“I think there’s three things we should do if we see a significant cyber-attack,” he said. “The first obviously is defending against it. The second is reveal: We should be publicizing what has happened so that any of this kind of cyber trickery can be unmasked. And thirdly, we should respond. Our response should be proportional.”

Finally,

One problem, officials say, is that the doctrine around cyber conflict — what is espionage, what is theft, what is war — is not well developed.

“Cyber war is undefined,” Brown said. “There are norms of behavior that we try to encourage, but people violate those.”

For further reading if anyone is interested, here’s the link to Joint Publication (JP) 3-12(R)/Cyberspace Operations. JP 3-12 covers all the Joint Force doctrines and concepts for cyberspace operations. Here’s the link to the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence (COE)* doctrine and concepts brief for those that like death by powerpoint. Finally, here’s the link to a very interesting monograph on cyberspace operations published by the US Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute (full disclosure: I know the author, he was on the faculty of USAWC during the first two years of my assignment there).

* The Army uses Center of Excellence for the overarching Branch commands at their Professional Military Education (PME) schools. These are not traditional, civilian academic Title VI Centers of Excellence.

 

Reader Interactions

64Comments

  1. 1.

    Viva BrisVegas

    More for its resonance than its relevance:

    Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!
    Guy Fawkes and his companions
    Did the scheme contrive,
    To blow the King and Parliament
    All up alive.
    Threescore barrels, laid below,
    To prove old England’s overthrow.
    But, by God’s providence, him they catch,
    With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
    A stick and a stake
    For King James’s sake!
    If you won’t give me one,
    I’ll take two,
    The better for me,
    And the worse for you.
    A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
    A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
    A pint of beer to wash it down,
    And a jolly good fire to burn him.
    Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
    Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
    Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

  4. 4.

    Boussinesque

    Well shit. Hopefully the Russians will take the hint–what kind of odds do you place on this…dissuading them, Adam? Or that transparency on the part of the administration will help mitigate the impact of any Russian cyber-ops?

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Don’t think I have ever seen the entirety of the Guy Fawkes doggerel. The first lines, yes indeed. And I have somewhere run across

    A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
    A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
    A pint of beer to wash it down,
    And a jolly good fire to burn him.

    but had no idea it was from the same poem.

    Thanks for this! And it does seem to chime with our situation in the U.S. today.

  13. 13.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Good lord.

    This is all kind of like the movie War Games, but in reverse. Or something.

    Back then everyone was freaking out watching online or digital activity only in case it was reflecting physical attacks. If it was just online, then whew, all was okay. Now everyone is staring at the screens and it’s the online activity itself that’s the danger.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Boussinesque: This is the public warning. I’m sure more private warnings have also been issued. We’ll just have to wait and see just how far Putin wants to push things.

  17. 17.

    Carlo Graziani

    Retaliating in kind to this sort of cyber-warfare would show a depressing literal-mindedness and lack of imagination. “Cyber warfare” is a mugs game.

    Russia is a petrostate. The way to hurt them is to drive down the price of oil and gas for a very long time. Alternative fuel subsidy and technology development plus a carbon tax, to drive down demand, and a benevolent attitude towards fracking to drive up supply will give Putin the vigorous screwing he so richly deserves. It will just take a little longer, but it’s a much surer way.

    Russia wants to be taken seriously? They want to be the main enemy again? Ok, here’s a coherent foreign policy initiative that forces them to react to us, for a change. I doubt very much that Putin’s position will seem quite as secure in a couple of years, when he can no longer bribe his oligarchy and appease his public using wealth from mineral extraction.

  18. 18.

    Mary G

    …death by PowerPoint.

    w

    That brings back some bad old memories {shudders} of my work life. Especially of this guy named Lloyd who could not spell to save his life and
    loved to use the “amazing effects” between every.single.slide.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Helen: I don’t know the answer to your question, but I did want to raise a glass of wine in honor of your last night (I presume) before you leave.

  25. 25.

    Timurid

    @Mary G:

    Speaking of Death By PowerPoint… why did Adam leave out the DoD PowerPoint Warrior Time Cube thingy at the top of this post?

  31. 31.

    GrandJury

    @gf120581: I want to see them all fired. Also want to see Obama doing something about it at the highest levels. President Hillary can’t because it will appear vindictive.

  33. 33.

    Matt McIrvin

    @SiubhanDuinne: I recall hearing that when George Washington was trying to get French-Canadians on his side during the Revolutionary War, he had to order his men not to burn effigies of the Pope on Guy Fawkes Day.

  34. 34.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Compound when applied to a human habitat refers to a cluster of buildings in an enclosure, having a shared or associated purpose, such as the houses of an extended family (e.g. the Kennedy Compound for the Kennedy family). The enclosure may be a wall, a fence, a hedge or some other structure, or it may be formed by the buildings themselves, when they are built around an open area or joined together.

    You’re wrong, you’ve been proven wrong. Go and look it up.

  35. 35.

    Bill Arnold

    Just saw the Bill Maher interview of B. Obama – very good, worth watching.
    Full video here. Note wink at 8:31.

    Both of them agreed the media needs to step up its game in how it covers politics, with the president wondering “how do we create a space where truth gets eyeballs?” and talking about the “funhouse mirror” version of himself he sees on Fox News.

    (I recall slightly different wording, looking for a transcript)

  38. 38.

    Bill Arnold

    @Adam L Silverman:
    You’re looking for “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint”, Edward Tufte.
    Here’s the official link, not full text.
    If you search you will find a probably-not-legal link, which should probably not get posted here (so I edited it out).

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack

    CSI: The Cyber folded too soon. Damn you, Jerry Bruckheimer!

    I wonder if we can get Patricia Arquette back. I know Van der Beek’s schedule is open.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    To answer your question from, like, two days ago: yes, Buster Keaton’s College was largely shot at USC. It also contains the only known instance where Keaton did not do a stunt himself: when his character pole-vaults into a second-story window to save the girl, he had to hire a USC athlete to do the stunt because he couldn’t figure it out.

    It also has the only blackface scene that I’m willing to defend, because (a) he doesn’t resort to stereotyped behavior and (2) when the black characters figure out that he’s a white guy in blackface, they’re pissed.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Dunno. My Classic Television Studies major was Perry Mason.

    Future Oscar winner Louise Fletcher on right now (MeTV) in “The Case of the Mythical Monkeys” (1960).

  64. 64.

    Groucho48

    And, let’s not forget the very short lived Deadwood spin-off– CSI-Deadwood, or, C**kSucker Investigations

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