JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cold War in Cyberspace; Western military hackers have penetrated Russian targets, from tech giants to the nationwide power grid, reports say” – Transitions Online/ Ky Krauthamer
“… a U.S. Senate report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election … relayed intelligence assessments that Russian government hackers scanned electoral systems in all 50 states, looking for weaknesses …. Russian meddling reportedly continued as the 2018 midterm elections neared … [DHS indicated that there were] ‘numerous actors … regularly targeting election infrastructure, likely for different purposes, including to cause disruptive effects, steal sensitive data, and undermine confidence in the election.’ … [R]eports of U.S. or other Western government hacks on Russian targets have received less coverage …. [such as hackers linked to Western intelligence agency reportedly unleashing] a powerful malware agent … on computers of Russian’s largest tech company, Yandex, in an attempt to spy on user accounts …. [The] FSB[] was … targeted … [although] no one has accused Western governments …. U.S. officials are clear that the Trump administration is taking a more aggressive approach to combating Russian cyber-security threats. Those steps include placing malware inside the Russian electric power system …. During last November’s U.S. elections, Cyber Command took direct action [attacking] … notorious Russian troll farm …. Internet Research Agency[]…. Last fall, Cyber Command sent specialists to Macedonia, Montenegro, and Ukraine to help bolster their cyber-security defenses ….”