FRONT LINES

Advertisement Russian interference in U.S. election opens eyes

ussian meddling in the U.S. presidential election may be a turning point in an ongoing cyberwar that pits the United States and its western allies—Canada included—against multiple, shadowy enemies. Bruce Colman, an Ottawa-based cyber-security consultant and e-commerce specialist, says that beyond whatever effects it may have had on the election, the Russian saga is profoundly significant because U.S. intelligence

disclosed in detail the mechanisms operatives used to hack American political parties.

“Companies now can turn around and build a mechanism to stop it,” says Colman. “By making that public, they’ve totally neutralized these guys in terms of their ability to keep operating.

“Now everybody knows these mechanisms and everybody’s IT department is running around nailing doors closed.”

In reports citing a series of attacks, the FBI, the National Security Agency and U.S. Homeland Security said Russian civilian and military intelligence services tried to “compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election,” as well as government, political and private-sector entities.

The reports described a campaign of “cyber-enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens.” They provided detailed methodology behind the attacks and the subsequent leaks of Democratic party e-mails, asserting they were ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to help elect Donald Trump.

After a classified briefing, Trump appeared to give grudging acknowledgment to the hacking’s existence but shrugged off its significance.

James Clapper, then national intelligence director, told the Senate armed services committee that the Russian efforts were multifaceted.

“The hacking was only one part of it,” Clapper said. “It also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news.

“Only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized the recent election-focused data thefts and disclosures, based on the scope and sensitivity of the targets.”

But Colman says there’s no reason to believe that the Americans aren’t doing the same things in other countries. Or that Canada isn’t, for that matter.

“It’s unprecedented that it’s been verified and disclosed,” he said. “We don’t know that it hasn’t been going on forever everywhere. The assumption is that every government is doing it.”

Clapper said the agencies were not responsible for measuring the attacks’ effect on voter opinion.

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has stated that top Russian officials authorized efforts to hack the presidential election.

Advertisement

Discover the possibilities

There has never been a better time to explore retirement living at Revera. Choose from a variety of programs, dining experiences and personalized services tailored to you. And now, Legion members can get it all for less with this exclusive offer.

get 10% off

your suite rate*

Book your tour today! 1-855-929-9777

reveraliving.com

* Applies to first-time residents. Certain conditions apply. Visit www.reveraliving.com/legion-t-c for full details.

Trump has said America should “move on” and cited WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange as dismissing the claims that Russia was behind the election hacking. Clapper and others, however, told the senators Assange is not credible. Republican and Democratic senators alike came out in defence of the intelligence findings, raising the issue of whether the attacks should be considered acts of war and urging Trump to take them seriously. “We should all—Republicans, Democrats —condemn Russia for what they did,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. “Most Republicans are condemning what Russia did. And to those who are “IF IN ORDER TO KILL gleeful about it: THE ENEMY YOU HAVE TO KILL AN INNOCENT, You’re a political hack. You’re not a Republican. You’re DON’T TAKE THE SHOT.” not a patriot.” The reports said the agencies found that spear-phishing campaigns dropped near-undetectable malware into the computer systems of government organizations, critical infrastructure entities, think tanks, universities, political organizations and corporations. The ultimate goal: information theft. The agencies also found that Russian operatives launched ongoing cyberattacks against other, unnamed countries.

Incoming U.S. defence chief’s surprising views

Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense is an outspoken former Marine Corps general known as “Mad Dog,” but don’t let the name fool you. James Nicholas Mattis is an insightful, charismatic leader whose motivational abilities and battlefield successes came with nuanced understanding of history, humanity and his enemy.

Also called “the Warrior Monk,” the wellread native of Pullman, Wash., joined the Marines at 19 and retired three years ago after heading Central Command, where he oversaw wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

There were signs even before early December’s announcement that the 66-yearold, who’s never owned a television, never been married and has no children, was influencing the president-elect on key policy issues.

Trump told The New York Times that he had asked Mattis his views on the practice of waterboarding, a form of torture widely used by U.S. intelligence post-9/11 but since abandoned. Trump pledged during the raucous presidential campaign that he would bring it back, much to the delight of his core supporters.

Trump told the newspaper that the general’s answer surprised and impressed him. “He said: ‘I’ve never found it to be useful.’ He said: ‘I’ve always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture.’”

Mattis, the same man who famously said “be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet,” also warned his troops: “If in order to kill the enemy you have to kill an innocent, don’t take the shot. Don’t create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act.”

Before splitting with Obama on Iran policy, he co-authored a counterinsurgency manual aimed at limiting sectarian violence in Iraq. “Whenever you show anger or disgust toward civilians,” he said, “it’s a victory for al-Qaida and other insurgents.”

After Trump threatened to pull the plug on American defence pacts like NATO, calling allies who didn’t pay their share “freeloaders,” Mattis responded last spring: “For a sitting U.S. president to see our allies as freeloaders is nuts.”

Even on Iran, Mattis is seen by many as a voice of reason and potential moderating influence among the hawks advising Trump. He has questioned the benefits of the Iran nuclear deal but said “there’s no going back” on it.

Mattis’s appointment was confirmed in the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20. L

> Follow Front Lines weekly at legionmagazine.com/ frontlines.