The United States launched a cyber attack against Russia and turned off the Internet for the 'troll factory'

Information has been released about a special operation by the US Cyber ​​Command aimed at blocking the work of the so-called “troll factory” - a notorious Russian organization associated with interference in the 2016 US elections. On the day of the midterm elections, November 6, 2018, authorities launched a cyberattack on the organization, leaving it without Internet access.

Фото: Depositphotos

The operation marked the first warm-up of American cyber commands under the new powers that President Trump and Congress provided last year to strengthen the country's offensive capabilities. The attack began on the day of the mid-term elections to the US 6 Congress November 2018 of the year and lasted two days to prevent the Russians from carrying out misinformation, which calls into question the results, writes The Washington Post.

Whether the impact of the attack will be long-term remains to be seen. Russian tactics are evolving, and some analysts were skeptical about the success of the operation. “Such an operation is more of a pinprick, which is more of an irritant than a deterrent in the long run,” said Thomas Reed, a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University.

But some US officials argue that “grand strategic deterrence” is not the main goal. “Part of our goal is to throw a tentative ball, to create a little roughness, to create confusion,” one defense official said. - There is value in this. We showed that we can. We don't work the same way anymore."

Pentagon officials hailed this action and called it a success. Some US senators attributed to cyber command the prevention of Russian interference in the midterm elections. “The fact that the election of 2018 took place without successful Russian intervention was not a coincidence,” said the head of the Senate Subcommittee on Cyber ​​Security, Mike Rounds.

Officials said the blocking discouraged the trolls so much that they even complained to their system administrators about the disruption.

"The Agency for Internet Research" even in 2014 year, and before the presidential election 2016, sought to undermine the US political system, according to the Ministry of Justice. Posing as Americans and managing pages and groups on social networks, Russian "trolls" sought to exacerbate tensions in matters such as race, sexual identity and weapons.

According to the federal prosecutor's office, the "Agency" is funded by Yevgeny Prigogine, an oligarch from St. Petersburg and Putin's ally. Prigogine, his agency and management company Concord Management and Consulting were among the 16 Russian citizens and companies that were indicted According to the investigation of Robert Muller about Russia's intervention in the election of the year 2016.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, Prigozhin said: “I cannot comment on the work of the Internet Research Agency because I have nothing to do with it.” Concord Management declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation in the United States.

Another element of the cyber-team campaign, which was first reported by the New York Times, is related to personal messages that were sent to “trolls” and hackers cooperating with the military intelligence of the GRU. Using emails, pop-ups, personal messages, US operatives have made it clear to Russian “trolls” for several months that they know their real names and online addresses, and they should not interfere in the affairs of other countries, representatives of the Ministry of Defense said.

According to two people, some employees of the Internet Research Agency were so excited by this correspondence that they began an internal investigation into the leakage of insider information.

Recall that in mid-February the Russian State Duma approved in first reading bill on the autonomous work of the Internet in Russia, which caused sharp criticism of the business, was criticized by the Accounting Chamber and may require billions of rubles from the state budget. The document voted 334 MP, against - 47. Representatives of all factions, except for United Russia, came out against the bill. In the media, it became known as the sovereign (autonomous) Internet bill.

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