Why the NYT thinks Russia hacked Burisma — and where the evidence is still shaky
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065869/russia-burisma-hack-attribution-gru-apt28-fancy-bear-evidence
Reported today in The Verge.
Why the NYT thinks Russia hacked Burisma - and where the evidence is still shaky
The disastrous Democratic National Committee hack in 2016 was a wakeup call for anyone worried about international chaos campaigns - and Monday night, we got a new reason to be worried about 2020. The New York Times and cybersecurity firm Area1 broke the story of a new hack by Russian intelligence services targeting Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company at the center of Trump's ongoing impeachment. For months, Republican operatives have been hinting at some horrible corruption inside the company, and if Russian spies really did hack the company, it raises frightening possibilities.
Some in Congress are already predicting a replay of 2016, with Rep. Adam Schiff commenting, "It certainly looks like they are at it again with an eye towards helping this president." It's an alarming thought - and given Trump's refusal to acknowledge Russian hacking the last time around, there's no indication the White House would do anything to stop it.
But while the report painted a terrifying picture, the evidence is less definitive than it might seem. There's strong evidence that Burisma was successfully targeted by a phishing campaign, but it's much harder to be sure who was behind the campaign. There are real suggestions that Russia's GRU intelligence service could be involved, but the evidence is mostly circumstantial, as is often the case with hacking campaigns. The result leaves the case against Russia frustratingly incomplete, and suggests we may head into the presidential campaign with more questions than answers.
The bulk of Area1's evidence is laid out in an eight-page report released in conjunction with the Times article. The core evidence is a pattern of attack