The Intercept inspired a whole lot of tweets Monday afternoon with its piece about a leaked NSA report.
NEW: Russia tried to hack more than just emails. They also went after voting infrastructure. https://t.co/RkOA4kqzFn
— Josh Begley (@joshbegley) June 5, 2017
Some were pretty excited that, finally, evidence had been found backing up the claim that Russia had hacked the election:
#unhackthevote
Boom! There it is. This is the start. Russia Hacked the Election and we are proving it. https://t.co/0HOQo7EmYU— MikeFarb (@mikefarb1) June 5, 2017
This is the start? How long has this investigation been going on now? Didn’t President Obama look into it while it was happening?
This is a great, unsettling scoop. https://t.co/rqd9VGRRhr
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) June 5, 2017
Quite a few others weren’t so impressed, saying that there’s nothing in The Intercept’s report that hadn’t been reported on before. And there were even a few who were more concerned about an NSA report being leaked to the media.
Politico cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller posted a lengthy Twitter thread about the piece that seems to sum things up pretty broadly.
Leaked NSA report assesses that Russia tried to hack local election officials using info stolen from voter data firm https://t.co/jdJ7AAbwkA pic.twitter.com/ChDjsz3QO1
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
I believe the intrusion into VR Systems is the same hack first reported by CNN in October: https://t.co/pCtG4KanLY
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
Recommended
NOTE that Russia couldn't change votes simply by hacking VR Systems or local election officials' personal computers.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
VR Systems makes software that verifies a voter's eligibility to vote. It does not make vote-tallying software for machines.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
Software that verifies a voter’s eligibility to vote? So the Democrats would call it “voter suppression software”?
NSA report does not assess whether any local election officials even fell for the trick. But again, their PCs are not linked to machines.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
Their PCs might not be linked to voting machines, but Dr. Jill Stein had that one figured out; agents could physically walk around voting locations and reprogram the voting machines using floppy disks.
It's possible that Russia could have messed with voter registries in certain districts, but that's speculative and hard to do at scale. pic.twitter.com/Q86J4pE5eA
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
I know of no confirmed case of a voting machine being accidentally connected to the internet. Direct remote hacking is *extremely* unlikely.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
But all voting machines have to be programmed with ballot info. Those cartridges are prepped on computers. Are those computers ever online?
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
Despite their professed desire for voter confidence, local election officials are about as anti-transparency as you can imagine. So…maybe.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
Again, tho, VR Systems doesn't make ballot-info-cartridge-programming software. It makes voter registry software. So can't get in that way.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
But if you leverage VR Systems info for a spearphishing campaign aimed at local officials, and you *do* hack an official's PC… (cont)
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
(cont) …then, if the local election tech runs a certain way, you could maybe get malware onto the cartridge programming computer.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 5, 2017
This was all stated before the election
— T-Covfefe (@MyPlace4U) June 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/samfbiddle/status/871818936177885184
Geller’s take sounds like a fair assessment, and it also shrinks the hype substantially. The leaked NSA report might “detail” a lot of what had already been reported months ago, but that seems about it.
Couple of thoughts on TI doc.
* How are docs still leaking!?
* Doc isn't newsworthy
* Undermines 702-reauth case
* Genuinely harms NSA caps— %{PwnAllTheThings} (@pwnallthethings) June 5, 2017
* (The nearly newsworthy bits were declassified & made public long ago)
* Helps Trump's case that folks in the IC are leaking against him.— %{PwnAllTheThings} (@pwnallthethings) June 5, 2017
Eg from August last year https://t.co/ARxAFRFsYF pic.twitter.com/JKtxIOxgBO
— %{PwnAllTheThings} (@pwnallthethings) June 5, 2017
This is probably the most honest one-tweet take on the piece you’ll find today.:
Filed under interesting read: https://t.co/Bc2AdUTl1d
— Major Garrett (@MajorCBS) June 5, 2017
* * *
Related:
Why did Obama wait until now to punish Russia for hacks? (Hint: This looks bad) https://t.co/NPaFspbF0E
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 29, 2016
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