Skepticism about all the Russian hacking allegations and the election is warranted. The claims are unsubstantiated and will remain difficult to impossible to substantiate. From John Reed Stark at linkedin.com:
President-elect Donald Trump has recently questioned: 1) President Obama’s finger pointing at the Russians for election-related cyberattacks; and 2) the current media and pundit frenzy alleging a Russian cyber-strike targeting Secretary Hillary Clinton in order to assure a Trump presidency. President-elect Trump plans to press U.S. intelligence agencies to defend their conclusions, stating,
“I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”
Having worked since 1995 as a first-responder to cyber-attacks, including serving 11 years as Chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, I whole-heartedly agree with President-elect Trump. His skepticism is not only appropriate and warranted — it’s spot-on.
Official U.S. Statements About Russian Hacking of U.S. Election
Despite countless inflammatory headlines about Russian election hacking, there exist only two official U.S. statements specifically addressing the facts of recent election-related hacking incidents. The first is the October 7, 2016 Joint Statement from the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security (the “Joint Statement”). The second is the December 29, 2016 Joint Analysis Report of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, entitled, “GRIZZLY STEPPE – Russian Malicious Cyber Activity” (the “JAR”).
Both government statements are curt, vague, opaque and miles away from being concrete — and both also beg far more questions than answers.
To continue reading: Why Donald Trump Is Spot-On About The Russians And The Election