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Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

justice.gov

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Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#51

Post by Fnoord »

kasperni wrote: post #4

Can someone explain how individuals are identified when we are talking about state sponsored hackers?

The Dutch secret service MIVD caught a couple of GRU "diplomats" who were trying to do MITM (with a Pineapple) on e.g. the organisation in The Hague who were investigating MH17. One even had a taxi receipt with him from GRU HQ to Moscow airport.

Meanwhile, the Dutch secret service AIVD had access to GRU HQ camera feeds.

Before all that happened a high ranking Russian police officer got reprimanded (IIRC send to gulag) for working together with the Dutch police on high level cyber crime.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#52

Post by the-dude »

mullingitover wrote: post #31
factsaresacred wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Russiagate" is commonly used to refer to the accusation that Trump colluded with the Russian state to determine the outcome of the 2016 election. The Special Counsel investigation found no evidence of collusion. Or is everything involving Russia now its own "Russiagate"?

They weren't able to prove collusion directly (and listed repeated efforts by the administration to obstruct justice), but they found that Russia helped the Trump campaign proactively and they welcomed the foreign assistance[1]. So the Trump campaign welcomed the Russian election interference, of which there was a breathtaking amount[2]. It's also telling that Trump, who never has spared an unkind word for anyone, ha…

So I start reading [2], scroll to 2016 only to find a tremendous list of unconvincing mini-facts?

How does this end up on Wikipedia?

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#53

Post by vharuck »

ineedasername wrote: post #40

I'm torn when it comes to the utility of making public indictments of this sort when the truth is there will never be any arrest or trial. Making them public lets Russia know we're aware of their actions, which in turn may drive them to greater efforts to make these actions harder to detect and therefore harder to defend against. I also wonder if making these public, detrimental and unnecessary, is just a cynical plo…

>I also wonder if making these public, detrimental and unnecessary, is just a cynical ploy before an election to give the appearance that this administration has been tough on Russia, when actual toughness on Russia would mean not just indictments, but also sanctions and other tangible consequences.

Honestly, I don't mind cynical ploys as much if they involve an agency doing it's usual job. They might be trying to deflect attention or obscure underlying biases, but conducting an investigation and officially making an announcement based on the facts is a good thing. If only more "October surprises" were like this.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#54

Post by mike_d »

kasperni wrote: post #4

Can someone explain how individuals are identified when we are talking about state sponsored hackers?

Counter intelligence operations ran by NSA and CIA. They most likely have compromised infrastructure used by the attackers. At the end of the day, Russian cyber ops are still a governmental organization - which means they keep records, have JIRA (or similar) tickets, logs of work to support promotions, etc.

CIA likely has human assets within the ranks of the military intelligence units that could provide information or details of written documents.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#55

Post by shadowgovt »

factsaresacred wrote: post #23
pjc50 wrote: post #5

Keeping this to post under all those comments saying there was nothing to "Russiagate".

"Russiagate" is commonly used to refer to the accusation that Trump colluded with the Russian state to determine the outcome of the 2016 election. The Special Counsel investigation found no evidence of collusion. Or is everything involving Russia now its own "Russiagate"?

It is not technically 'collusion' if one says, very publicly and loudly, "Won't someone rid me of this meddlesome priest?" And when agents of a foreign government with obvious vested interest in said priest's fate come to you with dirt on said priest, you take it and disseminate it.

It is not technically collusion.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#56

Post by tehjoker »

ineedasername wrote: post #40

I'm torn when it comes to the utility of making public indictments of this sort when the truth is there will never be any arrest or trial. Making them public lets Russia know we're aware of their actions, which in turn may drive them to greater efforts to make these actions harder to detect and therefore harder to defend against. I also wonder if making these public, detrimental and unnecessary, is just a cynical plo…

Given there's never a trial, you never find out if the charges are true either.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#57

Post by failuser »

mike_d wrote: post #54
kasperni wrote: post #4

Can someone explain how individuals are identified when we are talking about state sponsored hackers?

Counter intelligence operations ran by NSA and CIA. They most likely have compromised infrastructure used by the attackers. At the end of the day, Russian cyber ops are still a governmental organization - which means they keep records, have JIRA (or similar) tickets, logs of work to support promotions, etc. CIA likely has human assets within the ranks of the military intelligence units that could provide information…

I’ve assumed the use something outdated like paper orders, but yes, there might be some sort of a ticket «kill Navalny» that has gone through some interesting states and comments.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#58

Post by reaperducer »

monocasa wrote: post #39
reaperducer wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one stated that they wouldn't have representation. The OP posited that the people responsible would never be arrested

How are they going to have representation when they're in Russia and not communicating with the US justice system? Even a public defender being present requires you to affirmatively agree to them being your lawyer, or else you defend yourself at trial. There's no way to have a trial in the US without them being present.

How are they going to have representation when they're in Russia and not communicating with the US justice system?

The same way it was done all those times when American people sued the Iranian government in American courts. This is not new ground. This has been going on for at least half a century.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#59

Post by cameldrv »

dx87 wrote: post #43
ineedasername wrote: post #40

I'm torn when it comes to the utility of making public indictments of this sort when the truth is there will never be any arrest or trial. Making them public lets Russia know we're aware of their actions, which in turn may drive them to greater efforts to make these actions harder to detect and therefore harder to defend against. I also wonder if making these public, detrimental and unnecessary, is just a cynical plo…

It could also just be done as a thinly veiled threat to discourage people from working there. Even if nobody is arrested, the statement is basically saying "it doesn't matter where you are, or how secretive your work is, we can find you". I can imagine spouses and family would suggest they start looking for a different job after seeing the announcment.

It also means that they can't visit countries with an extradition treaty with the U.S. This is not the biggest penalty ever but it's something.

Re: Six GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Malware

#60

Post by mullingitover »

the-dude wrote: post #52
mullingitover wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They weren't able to prove collusion directly (and listed repeated efforts by the administration to obstruct justice), but they found that Russia helped the Trump campaign proactively and they welcomed the foreign assistance[1]. So the Trump campaign welcomed the Russian election interference, of which there was a breathtaking amount[2]. It's also telling that Trump, who never has spared an unkind word for anyone, ha…

So I start reading [2], scroll to 2016 only to find a tremendous list of unconvincing mini-facts? How does this end up on Wikipedia?

What's 'mini' about facts like "Trump lied to voters about his efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow while he was campaigning, and his personal lawyer went to prison for lying to congress to cover up that project" ?

If you're interested in more, there's the very sizable list, "Links between Trump associates and Russian officials"

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_between_Trump_associates...

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