"The Washington Post and NBC News have confirmed that the Intercept has published the material allegedly leaked by Winner. Very recently, in fact: On Monday, the digital organization published a rather eventful exclusive under the headline, “Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election.” The piece detailed a complicated and industrious effort by Russian military intelligence to hack into a company that supports voting systems in various states. “The report indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than was previously understood,” write Matthew Cole, Richard Esposito, Sam Biddle and Ryan Grim." Washpost
--------------
OK. It is mildly interesting that the GRU (Russian Military Intelligence) experimented with electronic penetration of US companies connected to the electoral process.
It is also annoying that this particular air head decided to launch her own campaign of "resistance" to the Trump Administration by e-mailing Glenn Greenwald's publication an NSA document that she was sworn to protect from public view. "But, I have to have clean water and air to breathe." This is a typical talking point that such people babble when all else fails.
But, pilgrims, none of that is important when compared to the massive intelligence defeat suffered by the US in that the GRU now know that US SIGINT has been reading their internal communications traffic for years. Given this revelation and the earlier CNN "scoop" given to Dana Bash by US spies concerning US penetration of Russian diplomatic communications I would think it likely that the Russian government will conclude that ALL their communications are compromised. Having reached that conclusion they will set out to build completely new systems for the whole Russian government.
It will take billions of dollars and years of work to break into these new systems, Until that is achieved US intelligence will be rather close to blind. Some of you will rejoice in that, but you should not. The insight provided by SIGINT into potentially hostile acts and motives have often kept the world from nuclear war. pl
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/30/politics/russians-trump-campaign-information/
Sir
Considering the severity of the disclosure of our ability to intercept and decrypt Russian secure communications by a NeverTrump high IC official, do you think the US government will identify and prosecute this person?
Or will the emphasis always be to get some low level flunky, like this young lady acting out her dislike of Trump?
It seems there is a protected class of traitors at the highest levels of our government.
Posted by: Jack | 06 June 2017 at 12:03 PM
This rot goes deep.
Can we ask how these people got into positions of access to such classified material?
Posted by: John Minnerath | 06 June 2017 at 12:09 PM
As b at MoonofAlabama asks, how did a language specialist get access to that kind of data?
Posted by: shargash | 06 June 2017 at 12:23 PM
I posted this quote once before here....and I'm going with it again:
"An ant climbs a blade of grass, over and over, seemingly without purpose, seeking neither nourishment nor home. It persists in its futile climb, explains Daniel C. Dennett at the opening of his new book, "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" (Viking), because its brain has been taken over by a parasite, a lancet fluke, which, over the course of evolution, has found this to be a particularly efficient way to get into the stomach of a grazing sheep or cow where it can flourish and reproduce. The ant is controlled by the worm, which, equally unconscious of purpose, maneuvers the ant into place"..
I have no idea whether the information this person is alleged to have "leaked" is accurate, or, simply another part of a false narrative being painstakingly created, leak by leak. This person, this "ant", this poster of the term, 'being white is terrorism' is "unconscious of purpose".
This something, even larger and more significant going on here, than the lost of SIGINT information, as significant as that is. We are collectively losing our minds. How many more of these automatons are out there, and active?
Posted by: jonst | 06 June 2017 at 12:27 PM
shargash
"b"'s comment indicates that he, like you, knows nothing of how an entity like this contractor company works. We are talking about industrial scale circulation of classified information and while it is true that this Arabic and Urdu linguist had no need to know but NSA SIGINT analysis requires the use of such linguists and it is very difficult to prevent a determined person within the organization gaining access. The same thing was true of Jonathan Pollard. He worked for naval intelligence and had no "need to know" for most of the documents he stole for Israel but was still able to gain access to them. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 12:47 PM
John Minnerath
The IC and its contractors are far too large and the machine demands a labor force. This woman would have received exactly the same interviews and an extended scope background investigation. the system failed to identify her as other than a dissident politically. the system does not weed out political dissidents. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 12:55 PM
jack
I think that ranks will close at the top and the formerly high and mighty will not be prosecuted. the trial and conviction of Jeffrey Sterling convinced me of that. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 12:57 PM
Colonel:
It appears that the Russian armed forces were suspicious of possible hacking, for it was announced on Rt some moths ago that the armed forces are building an independent hack-proof [they propose] network {Minister of Defence'announcement]
Posted by: Norbert M. Salamon | 06 June 2017 at 02:16 PM
jonst,
What is the lancet fluke inside the mind of these leakers? Or perhaps one could think of it as: what is the piece of malware inside the computer-brain of these leakers? How did it originate?
How much of this is pure "Clinton Restorationism" on the part of these leakers? Do they think they can "remove" Trump in such a way that they can then remove Pence and then install Queen Hillary or Princess Chelsea into the Presidency?
I don't think they think about their damage to American safety and survival prospects. I think they think that America is Invincible and Eternal and the issue of protecting safety and survival through following rules and laws about protecting the secrets doesn't even occur to them.
I wonder if the "Headwaters" originators of the leaks are DC FedRegime Borgists or Borgist loyalists protecting their Cold War 2.0 and their Free Trade Conspiracy from Trumpian threats?
Posted by: different clue | 06 June 2017 at 02:42 PM
Can I ask what makes you so sure that the NSA assessment is correct or even truthful?
Being as far as any common person from the world of security and intelligence agencies (and a foreigner on top of that), I am somewhat diffident when it comes to these kind of reports. Especially the ones that get leaked.
On october the 7th, DHS released a statement where the USIC declared its confidence in the Russian sponsored hack of the DNC.
Yet there are many reasons to believe that Guccifer 2.0 was actually a fraud, meant to imply a Russian hand behind the operation, while the other evidence is so blatant that some experts have a hard time believing that the Russians could be so sloppy, unless they were actually trying to "sign" the operation for whatever reason.
The software that was used was based on an open source project from the '90s. Not exactly something that can be considered a signature.
In this big "maze" of misdirection and rushed accusations I really have no means to guess what I can actually trust and what I should be skeptical about.
Posted by: Leonardo | 06 June 2017 at 03:07 PM
Yes, the "acceptable" leaks from the top is just another confirmation of pervasive institutional rot. One set of laws for the well-connected, another for everyone else. She thought she could get away with what the insiders also did? After all, the leak of the Kushner-Kisylak events disclosed US surveillance of presumed secure Russian diplomatic channels. What naivete!
Even if this woman knew something about the leaks that have plagued the Trump administration from day one which I doubt she does, I don't think any plea deal in exchange for her testimony would be forthcoming.
Posted by: iowa steve | 06 June 2017 at 03:19 PM
"But, pilgrims, none of that is important when compared to the massive intelligence defeat suffered by the US in that the GRU now know that US SIGINT has been reading their internal communications traffic for years." PL
I think you make a very important point, and one that needs to made to people (like me) who think that any release of secret info is good for the public in the name of transparency.
But if you are right (and I assume you are) then don't you think the NSA higher-ups should have done more to stop the story from being published?
The Intercept apparently allowed the NSA to edit the piece, so maybe they allowed some of this info to be published because it helped to support the "Russia did it" story which has been very weak on proof so far.
In other words, maybe they sacrificed important top secret info for some greater purpose like blaming Russia and Trump (which seems to be their main objective)
Posted by: plantman | 06 June 2017 at 03:51 PM
Leonardo
The Russians s know what was in their communications in both cases and they would know they have been penetrated. there would be no point in destroying our sources to satisfy your desire for conspiracy. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 04:11 PM
NMS
SIGINT collection is not hacking. It is collection of the signal and its analysis. The last thing you want to do is "hack." Thus would leave marks on the target. You want the target to be unable to establish whether or not you can read their traffic. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 04:14 PM
Colonel,
The rubble is starting to bounce. It is more important to remove Donald J Trump than leak classified information that documents that Russian Encryption has been broken.
“Obama administration said that they do not have any evidence that Russia hacked voting”. The only reason for the GRU penetration would be to determine if they could hack the electronic voting systems. Since this was kept silent, it indicates that the systems are hackable and likely have been from the get-go by design by the corporations who built them. The only counter is paper ballots counted in public.
There was a reason why the Civil Service was implemented. Corruption. If paid a living salary with health care and a pension, there is no incentive to be corrupt and a person has to be an ideologue to give everything up including their family for a belief. On the other hand, contractors are disposable by design.
Posted by: VietnamVet | 06 June 2017 at 04:14 PM
Who is giving out TS clearances - like so much candy?
And, even bigger, why do so many people have access to all this supposedly "classified" information?
Snowden?
Did anyone lose their job and their fat benefits and pension for that?
Manning?
How did an E-4 in Iraq get acccess to so much info - including diplomatic cables?
Who lost their job there?
The government, by all appearances, is a collection of inept dimwits and traitors - but that's not actually surprising.
Posted by: TV | 06 June 2017 at 04:23 PM
All
The "Intercept" had the gall to call NSA and ask for a comment. They DID NOT offer to let them edit the piece. Not surprisingly NSA declined to comment. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 04:28 PM
TV
We have been over these questions of yours before. Before 9/11it was a long, tedious process to get a security clearance at any level and the higher the longer it took. After 9/11 there was a howl that "the dots were not connected" because there were barriers between information streams. As a result the barriers were taken down and vast numbers of people were cleared and given massive access so that the dots would be connected in the future. the information flow was made very wide and that is how a little shit like Manning could log on to a Secret level network and download all that stuff. Before 9/11 he would never, never have had that kind of access. With regard to the Russian diplomatic and MI cipher systems, don't kid yourself for a minute. This the real deal. We have lost our hat, ass and overcoat in this one. the stuff manning stole was mostly trivia. this is really bad. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 04:35 PM
The whole thing seems fake to me. Some sort of op. I mean - "Reality Winner"? We're supposed to take this seriously in this forum?
Posted by: Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg | 06 June 2017 at 04:58 PM
She looks like a very useful idiot to me, any thoughts?
Meanwhile, while everybody is looking the other way at yet another 'Russia did it' non-news story the Empire conducts another illegal act in Syria & pushes ever closer toward a direct military confrontation with Russia:
https://southfront.org/us-led-coalition-air-force-bombed-government-troops-southern-syria/
Posted by: 1664RM | 06 June 2017 at 05:14 PM
Mr. Lang (or anyone knowledgeable),
A few days ago, you had a general summation of the Al-Tanf stadoff: "It would seem that the idea is to retain control of SE Syria for the purpose of training local forces to use against the Syrian government."
This morning, I found this specific description of U.S. intent:
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/06/05/5-jun-17-world-view-us-and-iran-backed-troops-head-for-confrontation-at-al-tanf-on-iraq-syria-border/
"Al-Tanf is on the strategically important Route 1 highway that connects Baghdad to Damascus. Iran’s objective is for Shia forces from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and the Syrian regime to control the entire length of Route 1, so that Iran can easily supply weapons and transfer militias to the Syrian regime and to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The US administration under President Trump is opposed to allowing Iran to expand its military presence in this way."
Will the R+6 accept us acting as a "U.S. Customs and Border Protection" force in this area?
Do they have any choices? I ask because I notice in this SouthFront map, the "Al-Zquf" facility seems designed to prevent any alternative route from developing. So that means war or acquiescence from the R+6:
https://southfront.org/us-led-coalition-air-force-bombed-government-troops-southern-syria/
Posted by: AshTheLightningFan | 06 June 2017 at 05:16 PM
1664RM
Yes. She IS a useful idiot. the country is now filled with over-educated and propagandized people, unfortunately mostly women who are incapable of rational thought. I, sir, am an American soldier. This is my country and I will seek to defend it to the end. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 05:17 PM
AshTheLightningFan
It is summer and I do not have the help here that I usually do. I will look at Syria tomorrow. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 June 2017 at 05:20 PM
From cnn.com, 2017-05-30
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/30/politics/russians-trump-campaign-information/index.html
From the Washington Post, 2017-01-05 (Thursday)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intercepts-capture-senior-russian-officials-celebrating-trump-win/2017/01/05/d7099406-d355-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html
Posted by: Keith Harbaugh | 06 June 2017 at 05:21 PM
That release looks fake to me (date is wrong, title is formatted differently to other releases and it isn't here: http://www.inherentresolve.mil/News/Strike-Releases/). SouthFront may have got it from @airwars, where I saw it. I just commented to this effect on the last al-tanf post. I've yet to see any confirmation that this actually happened.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 06 June 2017 at 05:43 PM