Does anyone else think the Russians were behind to DU hack?

[edhopper]

Seems likely to me. If you are disrupting Democratic voters, why not hit a site for Democrats on election day.

[AngryAmish]

1. Cubans are also good with the cyber.

Do not be naive.

[edhopper]

2. Is there evidence for that?

We know the Russians were actively hacking? Why is it naive to suspect them?

It easily could have been from inside the US.

Do you know if there is a suspected source for it?

[AngryAmish]

3. Cuba and Russia have been allies for generations

Remember the Cuban missile crisis?

[edhopper]

8. Of course

by why do you think it was the Cubans?

I assume you mean the Cuban Government, since internet access is more limited there.

[Mika]

10. You're forgetting the sarcasm smiley, right? eom

[snooper2]

61. "the cyber" LOL

[Mc Mike]

4. Don't let the far right off the list of suspects.

Both those within our intel apparatus, and their nazi buddies outside of it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. We aren't worth it.

But I would like someone with knowledge of computer hacking to tell me the level of skill required to pull off such a hack.

[edhopper]

6. good question

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. It seemed pretty impressive to me.

It was like Batman where the Joker commandeered a television station.

[Madam45for2923]

7. So we could not compare notes in real time.

[TheFrenchRazor]

41. this is my theory exactly. nt

[FarPoint]

9. Yes..

At least, at a minimum a coordinated effort with GOP...Their timing was perfect and apparently very skillfully damaging.

[pintobean]

12. Not me

It was some RWNJ prick.

[dembotoz]

20. anticipate you are correct

[LeftInTX]

24. Or even a BoB that got in a frenzy

Normally I don't say anything negative about BoB, but there are probably some good hackers among them.

[Chemisse]

26. What m(who?) is a BoB?

[LeftInTX]

29. Bernie or Bust

People who wouldn't accept that Hillary won the nomination. Many support Julian Assange and are fans of Putin. Some even whipped themselves into pro-Trump mode.

I think they have better computer skills than the average RWNJ

I voted for Bernie in the primary. I can understand how some BoBs feel. Maybe someone had a grudge against DU for being pro-Hillary.

I hate to think like this, but I think it is possible.

[Red Mountain]

35. I hate to think like this.....

but when I see posts that try and insert divisions into the coalition that we must form to resist the Trump administration I wonder about the motivations of the poster.

Especially when they pick a 'Stronger Together' avatar and then do the opposite.

[Chemisse]

39. Ahh, thank-you.

Certainly there are some angry ex-DUers, for a variety of reasons. Most people managed to move on and support Hillary. In fact, DU has been a pretty pleasant place since the finish of the primaries.

I suspect we've had our share of Russian visitors, so I don't think we can rule that out.

I wonder if we will ever know who did it.

[GoCubsGo]

37. Yep.

Most likely some gamer type or a Reddit racist.

[TheFrenchRazor]

42. there's no reason that said RWNJ prick could not be co-ordinating with ruskies. nt

[pintobean]

43. Sorry, I'm out of Reynolds Wrap.

[TheFrenchRazor]

47. wow, you sure are a trusting soul... nt

[LanternWaste]

59. No doubt, Trump says's sentiments mirror yours in this instance.

No doubt, Trump says's sentiments mirror yours in this instance. Spurious correlation, I'm sure.

[pintobean]

63. Trump weighed in on the DU hack?

Got a link?

[rzemanfl]

13. Agree. K&R n/t

[11 Bravo]

14. Ummm ... no.

[mopinko]

15. i could go either way.

just knowing the level of obsession that some people have w du makes pretty much anything seem possible.

tend to think that whoever it was, it was with the purpose of stopping any sort of reporting on vote counting.
i do think we are that important.

(plus, ya know, if i want the tinfoil answer- ya know thom hartmann reads and posts here. and thom hartmann is on-------rt.)

[wryter2000]

16. I wouldn't rule it out

But I suspect as a-hole Trump supporting US deplorable.

[Coyotl]

17. Early on it seemed the Russia hypothesis was a trolled smokescreen from Republicans.

Just like the trolls were the first ones to sow discord between the Berners and the Hillary crowd and to push the rigged primaries nonsense. The conspiracy was well-coordinated, that's for sure, not some rogue Republican op.

I would place my bets today on the Trump campaign operating by working from Russia to avoid law enforcement in the USA. That means Manafort and Stone ran the op. Their hired hackers knew how to use Russian servers to avoid being identified. Trump's secret server connection to Russia may be the channel of communication they used. The Russians may have evidence we can't get to. Which Manafort associates were in Russia at the time?

This is the sort of operation that fits Roger Stone like a glove!

[Hekate]

49. We could have been a practice exercise sowing FUD on the way to something bigger

[ksoze]

18. Russians or a Russian?

The Kremlin is not focused on this forum. Does not create the larger scale disruption that would be sanctioned. It is more likely a domestic hacker who could be anyone- I would bet on someone from a more right leaning forum....

[TexasTowelie]

51. Or from a forum that considers itself to be more progressive.

[madokie]

19. I think its very possible

[FarCenter]

21. On election day? What would be the benefit?

[Coyotl]

22. No doubt, personally supervised by Putin himself, what with DU being such a threat to Russia.

So, Putin personally supervised the hack of DU, right?

[kentuck]

23. I wonder what Skinner and Earl G think about this?

Probably an individual sctor? Maybe with former ties to DU?

[Chemisse]

40. That seems most probable to me.

Someone with emotional ties here, who very passionately wanted to hurt DU and/or DUers on THE most important day.

[In_The_Wind]

25. I think it should be considered as a possibility.

[Strelnikov_]

27. Stong possibility (a Russian, anyway). Here's why IMHO

a) The hack video featured Putin prominently. Seems to me another actor would have left out/downplayed that connection.

b) DU was heavily anti-Putin/Russia, very vocal, during the Crimea/Ukraine dustup. Still is. Could be this site is now on the FSB radar, decided to get a little payback.

[Skittles]

28. yes

repukes knew the fix was in, and would have loved to watch the misery on DU all night long

[Pachamama]

31. Same thoughts

[Joanie Baloney]

30. I totally concur

I thought so the minute I saw the video. It smelled, tasted and sounded like a Russian product. Whether it was an actual Russian, or whether the style was appropriated by an alt+rt+del group, it sure had the feel.

-JB

[Maru Kitteh]

32. Were we a huge priority? Prolly not, but if they could get by with it? Sure, why not.

Coulda been Russia.

Coulda been one of the miscreants on DI or one or two other sites that are totally unhinged in their obsession about DU.

Coulda been a bent-out-of-joint BOB'er.

Coulda been some other run of the mill deplorable.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Possibility

[AllenJordan]

34. Maybe

No idea, i know hackers can make it look like it is coming from a particular country and/or any person in particular.

If not there would be a lot more of them in jail.

[KamaAina]

36. That one's been out there for a week or so.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028350441

[HeartachesNhangovers]

38. Whoever it was must have really been afraid of

discussionist, since that site is STILL down.

[tclambert]

44. What about the 400-pound guy sitting in his bed?

(How does Trump know how much he weighs? Is his sagging bed in Trump Tower?)

[BadGimp]

45. I'd bet money on it.

DU has always been a go-to place for the best deep insight regarding politics in the US, and they had to shut that down in case their plans were exposed.

[fescuerescue]

46. of course they were

It has all the earmarks of a state sponsored attack. This was no simple drive by operation, they site was shut down for over a week.

That sort of damage takes weeks of planning.

State attacks tend to obscure the ability to view other attacks in progress such as the hacking of the US election.

Finally, the biggest proof is that that none of the other right wing sites were damaged.

[pintobean]

52. Uh-huh.

Welcome to DU.

[fescuerescue]

60. ty

[Hekate]

48. Maybe trolling under the name Fozzy Bear?

Just being tongue in cheek -- but I did just call out one incoherent post, in the spirit of how we used to ask Agent Mike if he was checking in. I think Agent Mike is no longer our concern -- but Comrade Fozzy Bear may be on the job.

[JI7]

50. only because american right wingers dont seem good with these type of things

Their websites always look like shit .

[Raster]

57. sorry, I call el toro poopoo. The 4-chan and reddit bros are more than capable...

...of the DU hack. The chosen graphical images and terminology are directly from the tRump subgroup on reddit and 4-chan.

There was absolutely no need for Russian interference in DU on election day. Our own homegrown hackers and cyber terrorists were more than capable --and willing-- to hack DU. I was one of the first to see it and report it. I knew immediately what were dealing with once I saw the "God Emperor" themes.

[bowens43]

53. No....we are a small group of left wing 'freepers' not worth the time or effort

nt

[zippythepinhead]

54. I would not doubt it

DU is number 43 on the internet's most popular forums.

I have been on discussion boards for years and this is the best progressive forums I have ever joined.

The posters here are very intelligent, mostly.

DU doesn't feed the trolls.

[muriel_volestrangler]

55. Looking at the video (I hadn't before), I'd say a white supremacist with Swedish ties

was responsible. It repeats "white genocide" a lot, and uses a mixture of anti-semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Obama images. A lot of the images are European based, including Putin and others on the far right as 'heroes'. But there's more on Sweden than you might expect - it doesn't get in the news about the far right that much. So I think that might be their area of interest.

Has anyone seen that video used elsewhere? It took a fair amount of work - it's crappy, but you've still got to sit down and say "I think we need our 45th fighter plane coming in from the left here ...". I assume it existed already and was just reused for the DU hack. If it's well known, then the hacker may have just used it because they have shitty taste in music or something, and Sweden wouldn't be important.

[Raster]

56. Nope. It was either the 4-chan or reddit bros for tRump...

...the script/code kids at either have the skills, AND the familiarity with DU. The Russian Keyboard Commandos would only hack where necessary and where they could leave minimal footprints.

We need to get over the false belief that Clinton lost because of Russian hacking, which was only one of several factors comprising the "perfect electoral storm." The Russian contribution to the election loss was pretty clear: hacking email accounts belonging to the DNC, Podesta and perhaps other high-placed members of the Clinton campaign. The hacked information was then passed to a third party --Assange and Wikileaks-- for optimum distribution. THERE IS NO INDICATION that Russia or anyone else hacked the vote tabulators.

[blue cat]

58. Yes

I believe it was the Russians.

[Bonx]

62. Probably. A forum thsi active is high value target.

[melman]

64. Of course not

No way is DU that important. Come on.