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Lucylastic -> RE: Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House (12/12/2016 10:46:01 PM)
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https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/10/07/joint-statement-department-homeland-security-and-office-director-national
Joint Statement from the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security
Release Date: October 7, 2016
DHS and ODNI Seals
For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010
The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.
Some states have also recently seen scanning and probing of their election-related systems, which in most cases originated from servers operated by a Russian company. However, we are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government. The USIC and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assess that it would be extremely difficult for someone, including a nation-state actor, to alter actual ballot counts or election results by cyber attack or intrusion. This assessment is based on the decentralized nature of our election system in this country and the number of protections state and local election officials have in place. States ensure that voting machines are not connected to the Internet, and there are numerous checks and balances as well as extensive oversight at multiple levels built into our election process.
Nevertheless, DHS continues to urge state and local election officials to be vigilant and seek cybersecurity assistance from DHS. A number of states have already done so. DHS is providing several services to state and local election officials to assist in their cybersecurity. These services include cyber “hygiene” scans of Internet-facing systems, risk and vulnerability assessments, information sharing about cyber incidents, and best practices for securing voter registration databases and addressing potential cyber threats. DHS has convened an Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group with experts across all levels of government to raise awareness of cybersecurity risks potentially affecting election infrastructure and the elections process. Secretary Johnson and DHS officials are working directly with the National Association of Secretaries of State to offer assistance, share information, and provide additional resources to state and local officials.
October 7th 2016........
Re Mc Cain....
■ Senator John McCain says there is no doubt about Russian hacking, which he called “warfare.”
Mr. McCain said on Monday that there was “no doubt about the hacking” by Russian intelligence services into Democratic campaign accounts, which he called “another form of warfare.”
Appearing on “CBS This Morning” with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the next minority leader, Mr. McCain said the wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the election would include his committee as well as the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees.
He said a Senate investigation would be necessary despite President Obama having already ordered up an inquiry, as that one would not be completed before the end of the Obama administration. The implication was that the new Trump administration would not follow through.
“We don’t want to point a finger, and I don’t want this to turn into the Benghazi investigation,” Mr. Schumer added, referring to the House investigation into the attacks on an American compound in Libya, which he said had been partisan. “This is serious stuff.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/donald-trump-transition.html
Responding to intelligence officials’ report that Russia tried to influence the U.S. presidential election in favor of President-elect Donald Trump, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) on Sunday said he doesn’t know what to make of Mr. Trump’s dismissal of the issue.
“I don’t know what to make of it because it’s clear the Russians interfered,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that’s a subject of investigation. But facts are stubborn things. They did hack into this campaign.”
In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Trump said Sunday that new revelations about Russia’s influence on his behalf are “ridiculous.”
“It’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it,” Trump said. “… Every week it’s another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College.”
McCain called for a select committee to further investigate the extent of Russia’s influence and intentions.
“I would like in an ideal world to have a select committee,” he said, adding that he would hope such a committee would be made up of leaders on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Armed Services Committee.
In the meantime, McCain said, senators are putting together a plan to investigate the issue through a subcommittee on the Senate Armed Services Committee -- and that he’s “confident” it will be handled on a bipartisan basis.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-donald-trump-russia-hacking-response/
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/12/12/russian-hacks-could-be-an-act-of-war-says-john-mccain/
Russian hacks could be an ‘act of war,’ says John McCain
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