NEW YORK TIMES, RUSSIAN TROLLS
POSTED BY: THGRRI
UPDATED: Monday, August 31, 2026 20:50
VIEWED: 14203
PAGE 8 of 9
Seriously. That's a real question.
The article is using all sorts of technobabble that scares people because 90% of people who use technology today don't have a clue how anything works under the hood.
It's the same trick that Indian scammers use when milking unsuspecting people out of their retirement money. Speak with authority, scare them with big words they've heard but don't know exactly what they mean, put the fear into them that if they don't do something about the problem right now the consequences could be catastrophic, make them believe that you're there to help them (even better if you can act compassionate and befriend them), then take them to the cleaners. And doing so by making the mark an accomplice to their own downfall.
I get the feeling that everything you ever learned about network security was from watching 90's movies like Hackers.
Any fortune 500 company is not going to be hurt by Ransomware. They have IT departments that are run by some of the best network professionals America (and in some cases the entire world) has to offer. They have backups for their data on the off chance that anybody did manage to penetrate the defenses or something more mundane happens like a power outage that fried a few parts before switching to the generator system.
The ONLY thing that is a danger to these companies is the human beings working there themselves. Actual literal spies and corporate espionage, all the way down to victims of social engineering schemes.
The social engineering can only get groups with malicious intent so far, and likely wouldn't result in much. Anybody who falls for any of this likely isn't privy to too much that could be worthwhile for the groups.
The threat of corporate espionage is very real, however.
But in a world where somebody can get fired for their job for saying #WhiteLivesMatter on their Facebook, I would suggest that these companies divert their attention from what idiots on Twitter have to say and do their goddamned due diligence when hiring somebody they are planning to put into any key security positions.
Long story short....
No. Russia isn't going to hack your power grid because somebody was working from home and watches PornHub at night on the same computer.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Time to dust off this thread. After all, Biden's coming.
Russian Hackers Broke Into Federal Agencies
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/us/politics/russia-hack-nsa-homelan
d-security-pentagon.html
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It may rank among one of the worst newspapers in America?
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Congress eyes hack reporting law after pipeline disruption
The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, which led to hoarding and fuel shortages across the East Coast, is spurring new efforts in Congress to require critical companies to tell the government when they’ve been hacked.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/congress-eyes-hack-reporting-l
aw-after-pipeline-disruption/ar-BB1gLhsq?ocid=msedgntp
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Got nothing better going on in your life than staying up all night and spamming fff.net?
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Ex-CIA chief Panetta: Russian hackers behind cyberattacks are 'terrorists'
Former CIA chief Leon Panetta said that Russian hackers behind recent crippling cyberattacks are "terrorists" as the Biden administration ramps up efforts to curtail the intrusions.
"From my point of view, they're terrorists. When they come at us with ransomware, even though they're a criminal operation, they're operating out of Russia, and they are going after some very important infrastructure in this country," Panetta, who is also a former defense secretary, said on MSNBC Friday. "And yeah, they're doing it for money. But it is weakening the United States every time this infrastructure gets impacted."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ex-cia-chief-panetta-russian-h
ackers-behind-cyberattacks-are-terrorists/ar-AAKIRZD?ocid=msedgntp
tick tock
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Quote:
Originally posted by THG:
Time to dust off this thread. After all, Biden's coming.
Did anybody tell Biden*.
They do know they have to remind him every 15 minutes that he came right?
--------------------------------------------------
Give me liberty or just come shoot me in my house. I'm so over this ridiculous reality.
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Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
55 Savushkina Street, last known home of the Internet Research Agency. Credit James Hill for The New York Times
The Agency
From a nondescript office building in St.
Petersburg, Russia, an army of well-paid “trolls”
has tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet
— and in real-life American communities.
By ADRIAN CHENJUNE 2, 2015
The Columbian Chemicals hoax was not some simple prank by a bored sadist. It was a highly coordinated disinformation campaign, involving dozens of fake accounts that posted hundreds of tweets for hours, targeting a list of figures precisely chosen to generate maximum attention. The perpetrators didn’t just doctor screenshots from CNN; they also created fully functional clones of the websites of Louisiana TV stations and newspapers. The YouTube video of the man watching TV had been tailor-made for the project. A Wikipedia page was even created for the Columbian Chemicals disaster, which cited the fake YouTube video. As the virtual assault unfolded, it was complemented by text messages to actual residents in St. Mary Parish. It must have taken a team of programmers and content producers to pull off.
Who was behind all of this? When I stumbled on it last fall, I had an idea. I was already investigating a shadowy organization in St. Petersburg, Russia, that spreads false information on the Internet. It has gone by a few names, but I will refer to it by its best known: the Internet Research Agency. The agency had become known for employing hundreds of Russians to post pro-Kremlin propaganda online under fake identities, including on Twitter, in order to create the illusion of a massive army of supporters; it has often been called a “troll farm.” The more I investigated this group, the more links I discovered between it and the hoaxes. In April, I went to St. Petersburg to learn more about the agency and its brand of information warfare, which it has aggressively deployed against political opponents at home, Russia’s perceived enemies abroad and, more recently, me.
Savchuk’s revelations about the agency have fascinated Russia not because they are shocking but because they confirm what everyone has long suspected: The Russian Internet is awash in trolls. “This troll business becomes more popular year by year,” says Platon Mamatov, who says that he ran his own troll farm in the Ural Mountains from 2008 to 2013. During that time he employed from 20 to 40 people, mostly students and young mothers, to carry out online tasks for Kremlin contacts and local and regional authorities from Putin’s United Russia party. Mamatov says there are scores of operations like his around the country, working for government authorities at every level. Because the industry is secretive, with its funds funneled through a maze of innocuous-sounding contracts and shell businesses, it is difficult to estimate exactly how many people are at work trolling today. But Mamatov claims “there are thousands — I’m not sure about how many, but yes, really, thousands.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html
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When one fills their lives with pointless activities and has no sense of pride or accomplishment, it is very easy to be scared of whatever the Media is telling you to be terrified of today.
So sad.
--------------------------------------------------
Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
55 Savushkina Street, last known home of the Internet Research Agency. Credit James Hill for The New York Times
The Agency
From a nondescript office building in St.
Petersburg, Russia, an army of well-paid “trolls”
has tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet
— and in real-life American communities.
By ADRIAN CHENJUNE 2, 2015
The Columbian Chemicals hoax was not some simple prank by a bored sadist. It was a highly coordinated disinformation campaign, involving dozens of fake accounts that posted hundreds of tweets for hours, targeting a list of figures precisely chosen to generate maximum attention. The perpetrators didn’t just doctor screenshots from CNN; they also created fully functional clones of the websites of Louisiana TV stations and newspapers. The YouTube video of the man watching TV had been tailor-made for the project. A Wikipedia page was even created for the Columbian Chemicals disaster, which cited the fake YouTube video. As the virtual assault unfolded, it was complemented by text messages to actual residents in St. Mary Parish. It must have taken a team of programmers and content producers to pull off.
Who was behind all of this? When I stumbled on it last fall, I had an idea. I was already investigating a shadowy organization in St. Petersburg, Russia, that spreads false information on the Internet. It has gone by a few names, but I will refer to it by its best known: the Internet Research Agency. The agency had become known for employing hundreds of Russians to post pro-Kremlin propaganda online under fake identities, including on Twitter, in order to create the illusion of a massive army of supporters; it has often been called a “troll farm.” The more I investigated this group, the more links I discovered between it and the hoaxes. In April, I went to St. Petersburg to learn more about the agency and its brand of information warfare, which it has aggressively deployed against political opponents at home, Russia’s perceived enemies abroad and, more recently, me.
Savchuk’s revelations about the agency have fascinated Russia not because they are shocking but because they confirm what everyone has long suspected: The Russian Internet is awash in trolls. “This troll business becomes more popular year by year,” says Platon Mamatov, who says that he ran his own troll farm in the Ural Mountains from 2008 to 2013. During that time he employed from 20 to 40 people, mostly students and young mothers, to carry out online tasks for Kremlin contacts and local and regional authorities from Putin’s United Russia party. Mamatov says there are scores of operations like his around the country, working for government authorities at every level. Because the industry is secretive, with its funds funneled through a maze of innocuous-sounding contracts and shell businesses, it is difficult to estimate exactly how many people are at work trolling today. But Mamatov claims “there are thousands — I’m not sure about how many, but yes, really, thousands.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html
Russian 'troll factory' accused of interfering in US elections shuts down after exile of Wagner boss
Russia's "troll factory," accused of interfering in US elections, has been shut down. The factory was created by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the now-exiled leader of the Wagner mercenary group.
Russia is stripping the Wagner chief of his influence and finances after his short-lived rebellion last week.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-troll-factory-accused-of-
interfering-in-us-elections-shuts-down-after-exile-of-wagner-boss/ar-AA1dkp3D?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=98a08a0578324651a5de5938a93cd2ee&ei=101
Bye, say bye Jack. Say bye signym.
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