Dutch Article Strongly Supports US Government Story About Russian DNC Hacks

I try to keep an open mind about issues in the news. But obviously with American Media and ex-IC-Leadership taking a radically partisan leftist stance, well above and beyond factual justification, their repeated episodes of Fake News create a Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf premise. Eventually, when the wolf appears, no one trusts the boy.

In that vein, I finally came across a Dutch article from Jan'18. It details the DNC hack scenario and discovery, not by the US IC, but rather by the Dutch. It strongly supports the Russian DNC hack accusations, along with presenting an account of breathtaking incompetence by both the Obama IC and DNC.

quote:

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Dutch intelligence first to alert U.S. about Russian hack of Democratic Party
by Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal
January 25, 2018

In the Summer of 2015, Dutch intelligence services were the first to alert their American counterparts about the cyberintrusion of the Democratic National Committee by Cozy Bear, a hacking group believed to be tied to the Russian government. Intelligence hackers from Dutch AIVD (General Intelligence and Security Service) had penetrated the Cozy Bear computer servers as well as a security camera at the entrance of their working space, located in a university building adjacent to the Red Square in Moscow.
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In the summer of 2014, the Joint Sigint Cyber Unit (JSCU) was launched, a joint unit of AIVD and MIVD, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service. Based in the Dutch city of Zoetermeer, it focuses on, among other things, obtaining intelligence through cyber operations. That same summer, the unit received a tip about a group of Russian hackers based at a university complex in Moscow. An AIVD hacking team, operating under the JSCU flag, subsequently succeeded in penetrating the internal Russian computer network. Not only did the AIVD gain access the computer network, it also hacked the security camera in the corridor.

After a few months, in November 2014, the Dutch watched as the Russian hackers penetrated the computer network of the State Department. After being alerted to this by the Dutch intelligence chiefs, it took the Americans over 24 hours to avert the Russian attack, after a digital clash which, years later, at a discussion forum in Aspen, the Deputy Director of the NSA would refer to as hand-to-hand combat . Basing itself on intelligence sources, the Washington Post wrote that a Western ally had been of assistance.

In the autumn of 2014, the Russians also gained access to the non-classified computer network of the White House. This allowed them to see confidential memos and non-public information about the itinerary of President Obama, and to at least part of President Obama's email correspondence. These hacks, too, were exposed by the Dutch intelligence services, which subsequently notified the Americans.
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It is not clear why the hacks at the DNC could continue for so long despite the Dutch warnings. Last year, The New York Times reported that for months, the DNC had not taken the FBI warnings seriously. Eventually, cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, which was investigating the matter on behalf of the Democratic Party, also concluded that Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear were jointly responsible for the hacks. According to the US intelligence services, Russian officials eventually passed on the emails hacked by Fancy Bear to Wikileaks, which published them. The published emails caused a huge scandal in the American election campaign.
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As of now, the AIVD hackers do not seem to have access to Cozy Bear any longer. Sources suggest that the openness of US intelligence sources, who in 2017 praised the help of a Western ally in news stories, may have ruined their operation. The openness caused great anger in The Hague and Zoetermeer. In the television programme College Tour, this month, AIVD director Bertholee stated that he is extra careful when it comes to sharing intelligence with the U.S., now that Donald Trump is President.

LINK

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