- Joined
- Jun 8, 2018
- Messages
- 11,055
- Reaction score
- 8,038
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
Anyone who knows Russian culture well enough, even going back to the USSR days, would know the saying that translated goes along the lines of “It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.” Pretty much everyone in Russia knows this. Even in USSR, people went to the polls and "voted" for the Communist Party leaders. Everyone knew, it does not matter - the counts would be rigged as needed.
For all the attacks already known, it's clear that the main target of any such attacks and most resources would be dedicated to attacking the vote COUNTING systems. That would be by far the most effective way to affect election outcome.
Some elements of this had surfaced already, but unfortunately, Trump administration will stall any such investigations and likely actively resist or shut them down. Still, there is no denying that the vote counting systems would be the primary targets. Everything else would be secondary.
Example 1
Example 2:
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
No, I have not seen yet any publicized and proven voting changes on record. But is that another shoe to drop? What chaos would that bring about? Trump administration has all the reasons in the world to keep THAT ONE under wraps!
What IS clear is that
- voting systems were SHOWN to be prone to hacking
- Russian attacks were SHOWN to be targeting them
- Russia would have those systems as their NUMBER 1 target to get the President it wanted
- Russians have succeeded in other, less important, attacks related to 2016 elections. Those that in all likelihood were NOT their primary targets and did not have as much resources dedicated to them.
For all the attacks already known, it's clear that the main target of any such attacks and most resources would be dedicated to attacking the vote COUNTING systems. That would be by far the most effective way to affect election outcome.
Some elements of this had surfaced already, but unfortunately, Trump administration will stall any such investigations and likely actively resist or shut them down. Still, there is no denying that the vote counting systems would be the primary targets. Everything else would be secondary.
Example 1
In an assessment of Russian cyberattacks released in January, intelligence agencies said Kremlin spy services had been collecting information on election processes, technology and equipment in the United States since early 2014.
Example 2:
The U.S. intelligence community developed substantial evidence that state websites or voter registration systems in seven states were compromised by Russian-backed covert operatives prior to the 2016 election
Example 3
The Department of Homeland Security was short on details when it said Friday that it had notified 21 states of Russian efforts to hack their election systems in 2016.
Example 4
Hackers are already aggressively probing ways in. Both Illinois and Arizona shut down their voter registration systems for a week last summer after they were penetrated. Just before the presidential election, hackers showed they could break into VR Systems, a Florida company that election officials in eight states, including California, rely on to keep track of who is eligible to cast a ballot on election day....
"Our elections systems are more connected than they seem," said Halderman, warning that hackers who find their way into the network of a poorly secured elections board through such phishing schemes could unleash malware with potential to corrupt not just registration files but even voting machines.
Example 5
Russian military hackers said to have infiltrated the U.S. election system would have had several potential avenues to influence U.S. elections — including by tampering with voting rolls, interference that could have had an important impact in swing states.
...
Online news site The Intercept said the report it obtained said Russian military intelligence executed a cyber attack on VR Systems, a Florida-based U.S. supplier of voting software.
...
The NSA report appears to be confirmation that Russian interference in the U.S. 2016 election went well beyond email leaks and information-centric attacks. It shows that the Russians, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, was trying to attack the machinery of the election itself.
No, I have not seen yet any publicized and proven voting changes on record. But is that another shoe to drop? What chaos would that bring about? Trump administration has all the reasons in the world to keep THAT ONE under wraps!
What IS clear is that
- voting systems were SHOWN to be prone to hacking
- Russian attacks were SHOWN to be targeting them
- Russia would have those systems as their NUMBER 1 target to get the President it wanted
- Russians have succeeded in other, less important, attacks related to 2016 elections. Those that in all likelihood were NOT their primary targets and did not have as much resources dedicated to them.
Last edited: