Russia’s Silent Cyberwar
October 21, 2020
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“War is ninety percent information.” — Napoleon
“Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence.” — Alexander Hamilton
Russia’s Silent Cyberwar
(Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
Russia’s most destructive cyberwar unit, known as Sandworm, has been creating chaos for years. After 2015’s first-ever cyberattack to cause a blackout — which thrust a quarter-million Ukrainians into darkness two days before Christmas — Sandworm continued its spree of wantonly destructive attacks, including another blackout attempt in 2016 on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, the release of the NotPetya worm in 2017 that spread globally and cost $10 billion in damage, the French presidential election, and the cyberattack on the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Despite these devastating and costly onslaughts on critical civilian infrastructure, Sandworm’s hackers had never been officially named, much less charged, in connection with those attacks — until now. On Monday the Department of Justice unsealed charges, including computer fraud and conspiracy, against six of Sandworm’s hackers. The group — also known in the security industry as Telebots, Voodoo Bear, and Hades — was confirmed earlier this year to work in Unit 74455 of Russia GRU military intelligence agency.
The six Russian men named in the indictment are in their late 20s to early 30s. Prosecutors say they were from the same unit that helped distribute stolen Democratic emails in the 2016 election. “No country has weaponized its cybercapabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite,” said the US assistant attorney general for national security.
Cybersecurity and national security experts have long argued that Russians were behind the hacks that prosecutors detailed on Monday. But the indictment was the first time a major law enforcement agency made the allegation. President Trump has consistently downplayed any role Russia might have played in the 2016 election, despite all evidence to the contrary. The new charges don’t address 2020 election interference, although American intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia is also attempting to influence the vote in November’s election.
Denied After Risking Their Lives
- Within a week of taking office President Trump, began attempting to ban Muslims from entering the US. Even as his executive orders were repeatedly challenged in court, Trump was still able to effectively limit immigration by repeatedly reducing the cap on the number of refugees admissions, and empowering local governments to block resettlement in their communities.
- Efforts to slow the flow of refugees into the country seem particularly heinous when considering the Iraqis and Afghans who risked their lives to aid American service members, and who now find the door to America slammed shut against them. Even as refugee admissions have ground almost to a halt, Trump has fallen back on the kind of anti-immigrant messaging that has been a staple of his campaigns, tarring refugees as threats to public safety and the economy.
- But veterans and active-duty service members argue that the real threat to national security is the exclusion from resettlement of those who assisted the military, because such cooperation will be harder to come by in future conflicts. In 2016, almost 10,000 Iraqis were welcomed to the US; by fiscal 2019, that number was down to 465. (NYT)
How Have The Kiwis Kept Their Cool?
- New Zealanders’ satisfaction with their government for the past 20 years has been cited as the main reason populism, conspiracy theories, and the rise of strongmen like Donald Trump and Brazil’s leader, Jair Bolsonaro, haven’t taken hold in the country. Analysts say long-term contentment with the direction New Zealand was headed has persisted through both center-right and center-left governments, preventing populist sentiment from taking root.
- That analysis was born out as the country’s labor prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was returned to power for a second term on October 17th by an overwhelming majority. Her center-left party won a historic victory as well, capturing 64 of parliament’s 120 seats. Ardern has also garnered praise for her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pollster David Farrar, in asking the “right or wrong direction” question, has recorded a “strong net positive” result since 2008 — meaning New Zealanders mostly thought the country was traveling the right way. Contrastingly, Farrar said, the US had seen “net negative” results for most of the past 40 years, meaning people felt the country was headed in the wrong direction. (Guardian)
Additional World News
- The World Order That Donald Trump Revealed (Atlantic, $)
- China’s embrace of hostage diplomacy is no idle threat (Axios). Beware of the “Wolf Warrior”
- Duterte: Hold me responsible for killings in drug crackdown (AP)
- Warming up to a nuclear freeze: Agreement on warheads brings U.S., Russia closer to extending nuclear treaty (Politico)
- Angels and artillery: a cathedral to Russia’s new national identity (Guardian)
- Washington to host talks on Nagorno-Karabakh, warring sides say (Reuters)
- 24-hour curfew imposed on Lagos amid anti-police brutality protests in Nigeria (CNN)
- Danish Inventor Who Murdered Journalist On Submarine In 2017 Briefly Escapes Prison (NPR)
- Murderer Who Wielded Tusk to Stop Terrorist Gets Royal Pardon (NYT, $). Looks like he was taken to tusk.
- EU seeks Amazon protections pledge from Bolsonaro in push to ratify trade deal (Guardian)
- Exclusive: Bolivia’s President-elect Arce says ‘no role’ for Morales in new government (Reuters)
COVID-19
- China and COVID-19: what went wrong in Wuhan? (Financial Times)
- ‘Totally Under Control’: An Essential Pandemic Documentary (Atlantic, $)
- What A Summer Of COVID-19 Taught Scientists About Indoor vs. Outdoor Transmission (FiveThirtyEight)
- Some Signs of Recovery From Severe Covid Lung Damage (NYT, $)
- The third wave of the coronavirus is gaining steam (Axios)
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- A single finger prick unlocks personalized, physician-reviewed reports and explainers on egg count, potential outcomes for egg-freezing and IVF, and what it all means for your fertility over time. (Basically, all the fertility and conception info sex ed never covered.)
- Once you have your personal results, take those insights and turn them into action with advice from fertility experts and real-talk support from Modern Fertility’s online community. With Modern Fertility, you’ll have the tools you need to build the plan for kids that works best for you.
- All of this for a fraction of the amount you’d pay at a clinic. Right now, Daily Pnut readers get $15 off.
Atlantans Brave Long Lines
(Jessica McGowan via Getty Images)
- Since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Georgia’s voter rolls have grown by nearly two million, yet polling locations have been cut by almost 10 percent. Particularly hard hit is Metro Atlanta, with its huge minority population. While the number of places to vote has shrunk statewide, it has primarily caused long lines in nonwhite neighborhoods, where voter registration has surged and more residents cast ballots in person on Election Day.
- Nine counties in the Metro Atlanta area have nearly half of the state’s active voters, but only 38 percent of the polling places. The average number of voters packed into each polling location in those counties grew by nearly 40 percent, from about 2,600 in 2012 to more than 3,600 per polling place as of Oct. 9. Georgia law sets a cap of 2,000 voters for a polling place that has experienced significant voter delays, but that limit is rarely if ever enforced.
- A June 2020 analysis found that the average number of voters assigned to a polling place has grown in the past five years in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina — all states with substantial Black populations. Calculated moves in Republican-run states to suppress the vote mean Black voters are facing barriers reminiscent of Jim Crow laws. Georgia is considered a battleground state for control of the White House and US Senate, and the difficulty of voting in Black communities like Union City could possibly tip the results on November 3. (ProPublica)
Millions of Dollars Lost: Who’s Vault?
- In the nascent business of storing money for US banks, international security contractor Garda managed to become the industry leader in just eight years; the company holds money for some of the largest banks in the world. But an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times reveals that behind that spectacular growth is an untold story of deception: Garda lost track of millions of dollars inside its vaults, then concealed the missing money from the banks that were its clients.
- Public records and interviews depicted some of the vaults as chaotic places, where employees routinely ignored protocol and lost money. Some vaults were rife with unsolved thefts, and lacked basic safeguards like high-quality security cameras. Garda sent banks a daily accounting of their balance in each vault. But as cash went missing, some branches continued to report the money was there. A company document shows that senior Garda executives became aware of the discrepancies as early as 2014; at the time they estimated some $9 million was missing.
- Six former Garda employees confirmed to the Times that Garda’s vaults were missing money in later years as well. Various branches were able to fool auditors by moving the money in one bank’s account to another. In a statement to the Times last month, Garda said the banks’ assets are never at risk because the money is insured. (Tampa Bay Times)
Additional USA News
- Breaking up the search bar? Google Abuses Its Monopoly Power Over Search, Justice Department Says In Lawsuit & Google’s search results have gotten worse (NPR, WaPo, $)
- Inside Foxconn’s empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises in Wisconsin (The Verge)
- How Republican Voters Took QAnon Mainstream & What I Learned When QAnon Came for Me (NYT, $)
- The Right’s Disinformation Machine Is Getting Ready for Trump to Lose (Atlantic, $)
- Trump’s Taking Down Names as Republicans Like Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins Start Jumping Ship (Daily Beast). “Donald, look at me, look at me, I’m not the f**king rat!”
- Trump urges Barr to assign prosecutor to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden (Guardian)
- Democratic super PAC Future Forward and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz are spending $100 million against Trump (Vox)
- Eva Longoria is the political power broker you never saw coming (WaPo, $). From Desperate Housewives to Democratic Huncho.
- He’s 32. He’s Joe Biden’s Press Secretary. And He Has Stage 4 Cancer. (Washingtonian)
- The Nude Yorker: New Yorker Suspends Jeffrey Toobin for Masturbating on Zoom Call (Vice).
- Judge rules Breonna Taylor grand juror can speak publicly about proceedings (CNN)
Do You Have The FIRE To Retire?
- Devotees of the FIRE movement — Financial Independence and Early Retirement — embrace the concept of saving most of their income in their 20s or 30s, aiming to retire in their 30s or 40s. However, this elusive goal requires a good, stable income, and an extreme dedication to saving. And while it’s true that compound interest from investing in one’s 20s can provide a large nest egg, detractors criticize the movement for its overly optimistic projections of savings, ignoring child-rearing, promoting unrealistic long-term consumption habits, and for simply being unattainable to anyone that isn’t already somewhat wealthy.
- Retiring early sounds pretty good to those who hate their job, but one financial expert says not liking your job is a bad reason to retire early; it’s basically a recipe for being bored or aimless once retired. “Achieving FIRE is a big deal, and it takes a lot of focus and determination. It’s not for those who want to get rich quick, or for those who just hate their job,” she says.
- Another expert says the emphasis should really be on attaining financial independence. “It’s less about retiring early and more about having the freedom to pursue your dreams and ambitions,” he says. In other words, it’s about having “the freedom to choose to work or not.” It sounds easily doable, until you consider The Rule of 25 that says when your net worth is 25 times your annual expenses, you’re considered financially independent. So if your annual expenses are $40,000, you’d achieve financial independence when your total net worth is $1,000,000. (Lifehacker)
Additional Reads
- How to Stop Innovation From Breaking America (Atlantic, $). When inventions break convention.
- Self-Help Hacks at the End of the World (New Republic)
- Teach an old dog new tricks: Stanford Neuroscientist: You Must Accept This Hard Truth About Learning as an Adult If You Want to Get Smarter (Inc)
- Doctors May Have Found Secretive New Organs in the Center of Your Head (NYT, $)
- Could cold water hold a clue to a dementia cure? (BBC)
- Toy story: What I learned about male desire in a sex doll factory (Guardian).
- How Saidiya Hartman Retells the History of Black Life (New Yorker, $)
- How to Spot a Military Impostor (New Yorker, $)
- Bruce Springsteen Is Living in the Moment (NYT, $)
- The long arc of history bends towards the crab: Crabs and Convergent Evolution: Carcinization Explained (Popular Mechanics)