Hillary Clinton’s Cyber Warfare Warning

Hillary Clinton has been in the UK recently, promoting her book What Happened and giving her own analysis of that very question.

While she has enjoyed standing ovations, she has been criticised for reliving the campaign and refusing to take responsibility for her defeat. In particular, some argue that Clinton’s insistence that Vladimir Putin swung the election for Donald Trump is sour grapes.

Indeed, there are many reasons why she lost beyond simply blaming Russia. But while Clinton as a messenger may be controversial, her message goes far beyond despairing at Trump’s Twitter habit, and has crucial implications for the future of democracy itself.

What Happened has an entire chapter dedicated to “fake news and real Russians”. Whether or not you accept Clinton’s conclusion that the Kremlin swung the 77,000 votes in three key swing states that won Trump the election, it makes disturbing reading: cyber-attacks, grudges, weaponised information, illegal meetings, murky Trump-Moscow business ties, and an alarming invitation from Trump for Russia to hack and release Clinton’s private emails in July 2016.

Multiple US intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, confirmed that Russia was behind cyber-attacks the summer before the election. There are currently three congressional investigations into Moscow’s involvement, while special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether the Trump team colluded with Russian agents.

But let’s take the most conservative view, which is that the Russian efforts were not enough to make a material difference to the election results. What happens next time?

We know that the Kremlin attempted to (at the very least) sow seeds of doubt among voters and spread fake news. Bizarre stories, such as the Clintons operating a child-sex exploitation ring from a pizza restaurant, were dressed up as fact by a deluge of new media sites with Russian fingerprints all over them, and disseminated by an army of fake social media accounts.

That in itself is something we have to take seriously. As former FBI director James Comey testified in the Senate: “we’re talking about a foreign government that, using technical intrusion… tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act.”
This is not just a question of who should be US President today. Comey also warned “they’ll be back”. They will, and not just in America.

The US may have been first in the firing line, but from Russia’s funding of far-right parties across Europe (Front National, Alternative fur Deutschland, Austria’s Freedom Party), to the adverts for state-controlled propaganda machine Russia Today (RT) plastered all over the London Underground, Moscow is attempting to exert its influence across the Western world.

Putin’s UK allies tend to be found more on the far left than the far right. Jeremy Corbyn and his shadow frontbenchers are regular guests on RT, despite its role in suppressing free speech in Russia and spreading government disinformation.
Then there are our alt-left news outlets: The Canary, Skwawkbox, Another Angry VoiceThese sites are dedicated to churning out memes and clickbait, promoting Corbyn and attacking his enemies (whether Tories, moderate Labourites, or anyone else), with a lax attitude to fact-checking and opaque donors.

Recently, The British left-wing online news outlet Canary ran a hit-piece on BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, which implied she was speaking at a Conservative party fringe event. She wasn’t, but the fake news piece still went viral.

These sites aren’t direct outlets for the Kremlin. But they, and their alt-right counterparts, could be used as such, even inadvertently. Russian Facebook adverts weaponised hacked data from private emails, repeated false accusations about Clinton, and tried to build a movement against her. What if Russia, or China, or North Korea, aired Theresa May’s personal emails to try to bring her down? What if a more sophisticated attack were enough to make Corbyn Prime Minister next election?

What the US fallout has shown is that the tools are there for a foreign power to undermine citizens’ faith in their leaders and their democracy.

At the end of the Russia chapter, Clinton has some advice for what we can do: keep investigating, improve cyber defences, get tough with foreign autocrats who think they are invincible, and rebuild trust in institutions.

This is by no means easy, but the fate of our elections, and by extension the future of western democracy, depends on it. We might not like what Clinton has to say, but we cannot afford to ignore it.

Ein News

You Might Also Read:

How Russian Cyber Power Attacked The US:

How Did WikiLeaks Get Clinton's Emails?:
 

« ‘Bad Rabbit’ Cyber Attack Hits Russia & Ukraine
Microsoft Cloud Is Hosting US Spy Data »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Check Point

Directory of Suppliers

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD offers expert-led cybersecurity training to help organisations safeguard their operations and data.

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Mondo

Mondo

Mondo is the largest national staffing agency specializing exclusively in high-end, niche IT, Tech, and Digital Marketing talent. Areas of expertise include Cybersecurity.

Cyber Triage

Cyber Triage

Cyber Triage is an automated incident response software any company can use to investigate their network alerts.

United Biometrics

United Biometrics

United Biometrics is an anonymous and real-time authentication platform designed to stop the fraud for mobile payments, e-Commerce and applications.

Smart Contract Security Alliance

Smart Contract Security Alliance

The Smart Contract Security Alliance supports the blockchain ecosystem by building standards for smart contract security and smart contract audits.

McIntyre Associates

McIntyre Associates

McIntyre Associates is an Executive Search boutique specialized in recruiting for the Cybersecurity industry. Our clients range from Venture Capital backed startups to Fortune 100 companies.

Clear Thinking Solutions

Clear Thinking Solutions

Clear Thinking is an IT Solutions company specialising in secure & compliant technical services.

MalwareFox

MalwareFox

MalwareFox is an advanced, yet simple-to-use anti-malware solution for Windows computers. We provide aggressive detection capabilities and an effective malware removal tool to keep your systems safe.

Trustifi

Trustifi

Trustifi leads the market with the easiest to use and deploy email security products, providing both inbound and outbound email security from a single vendor.

AnyTech365

AnyTech365

AnyTech365 is a leading European IT Security and Support company helping end users and small businesses have a worry-free experience with all things tech.

Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

CSIRO is Australia's national science agency. We solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology.

Veriti

Veriti

Veriti is a unified security posture management platform that integrates with your security solutions and proactively identifies and remediates potential risks and misconfigurations.

IGI Cybersecurity

IGI Cybersecurity

IGI Cybersecurity delivers people-driven cybersecurity for personalized, resilient cyber defense focused on individualized strategy and unshakeable partnership.

Data Defenders

Data Defenders

Data Defenders provide information security technology solutions that empower consumers, businesses and governments with safe and secure IT and cybersecurity infrastructures.

SquareX

SquareX

Squarex secures your online activities without compromising productivity.

VPNBlade

VPNBlade

VPNBlade is your go-to resource for expert reviews and advice on VPN services.

Defend

Defend

DEFEND are 100% focused on providing managed cybersecurity solutions and services that make a real difference to the cyber resilience of your organisation.