Thread by @arapaho415

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs First I've heard of this group, but FWIW, here's a #NSARussiaSmallGroup <thread>:
1/ Nov 5, 2019⤵️ (more...)

https://twitter.com/PortlusGlam/status/1191854438258008064

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 2/ Previous tweet links to Apr 29, 2019 article: (more...)
"The 'Russia Small Group' — whose existence NSA Director Paul Nakasone announced in July of last year, absent guidance from the White House on how to handle Russian cyberthreats... (con't)
cyberscoop.com/nsa-russia-sma…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 3/ ... — settles in as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have taken steps to clarify how and when the military should conduct offensive operations in cyberspace." (more...)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 4/ Jul 23, 2018:
Paul Nakasone, "[t]he head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command confirmed over the weekend that he has set up a task force to counter Russian🇷🇺 cyberthreats to the United States." (more...)
cyberscoop.com/russia-small-g…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 5/ ...Speaking at a conference in Aspen, CO, Nakasone didn’t elaborate on the activities or composition of the so-called 'RussiaSmallGroup,' but he did allude to the challenges of responding proportionally to 👉foreign cyber operations that do not amount to acts of war👈." (more)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 6/ "Nakasone said a cyberattack from another govt on US critical infrastructure would 👉cross the threshold into war👈, '& we would certainly respond.'
The US govt’s definition of critical infrastructure expanded in 👉Jan 2017 when...DHS put election systems in that category👈."

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 7/ #TraitorInChief:
"Meanwhile, after a controversial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, US President Donald Trump has vacillated between questioning and accepting the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election." (more)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 8/ Cyberscoop links to Jul 27, 2018 article:
Paul "Nakasone, an Army general who became the chief of both NSA and U.S. Cyber Command in April [2018], told Congress in his confirmation hearings earlier this year... (con't)
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 9/ [Paul Nakasone:]...'The most important thing is we want the [Russians’] behavior to change. . . . We want them to pay a price.' He added that one of the most disturbing facts is that the United States’ adversaries, including Russia, 'don’t fear us.'” (more...)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 10/ "The joint CyberCom-NSA Russia group is working w/the FBI, the CIA and DHS, each of which has its own initiative to detect & deter Russian influence operations. FBI Director Christopher A Wray last year set up the foreign-influence task force to counter such attempts. (con't)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 11/ ... It works closely with DHS, which has its own task force focused on election security — with an eye to the midterms — and has worked with state and local authorities on the issue." (more...)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 12/ "Repeatedly pressed last year and this year by Sen Jack Reed (RI), the ranking Dem on the Armed Services cmte, on whether they had been given any direction by the president to counter Russian interference, a number of sr administration officials...acknowledged they had not."

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 13/ Cyberscoop article in tweet #2 of this thread links to:
Apr 26 2019
"Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said Friday [Apr 26 2019] in a speech in Washington, citing the 👉presence of Russian🇷🇺 intelligence officers in the United States👈 (con't)
nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 14/ ...and the Kremlin’s🇷🇺 record of malign influence operations."
[T]he F.B.I. recently moved nearly 40 agents and analysts to the counterintelligence division... Many of the agents will work on the Foreign Influence Task Force... (con't)
archive.is/AaWrq

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 15/ ...a group of cyber, counterintelligence and criminal experts. Officials have made that task force, initially formed on a temporary basis before the midterm elections, permanent."
Interview w/ General Nakasone, Aug 14, 2019⤵️ (4-minute listen):
npr.org/2019/08/14/751…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 16/ We've got an Army General in charge of thwarting foreign cyber-interference in US elections. What about domestic threats (more downthread)?
Feb 27, 2019:
"The U.S. military blocked Internet access to an infamous Russian🇷🇺 entity... (con't)
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 17/ ...seeking to sow discord among Americans." "'They basically took the IRA🇷🇺 offline,' according to one individual familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified information. 'They shut them down.'” (more...)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 18/ NYT reported on US cybercommand action in Oct 2018:
"The defense officials would not identify their targets. But other officials said some of the targets were involved in previous Russian🇷🇺 efforts to spread disinformation... (con't)
nytimes.com/2018/10/23/us/…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 19/ ...in the United States and Europe, including the 2016 presidential election. The new American campaign, according to these officials, is aimed at both oligarch-funded hacking groups and Russian intelligence operatives who are part of Moscow’s disinformation campaign." (more)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 20/ Interesting aside:
"The US is helping Montenegro🇲🇪 remove Russian🇷🇺cyberoperatives from nonclassified government systems, a senior Montenegrin official said." (more)
archive.is/RrCcW

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 21/ "European leaders have been asking the United States to take a bigger role in helping block Russian meddling and cyberactivity. Lithuania🇱🇹 is working with the US on military cyberdefense training as well as research and development on cyberdefenses, Pres Dalia Grybauskaite."

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 22/ "American officials say the Russian effort to destabilize the American elections is closely tied to Moscow’s work in Europe." (more...)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 23/ WaPo | Feb 27, 2019 (tweet #16):
"A presidential order in August [2018] gave Cybercom greater latitude to undertake offensive operations below the level of armed conflict — actions that would not result in death, significant damage or destruction. (con't)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 24/ And a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act passed last year also cleared the way for clandestine cyber-operations that fall below that same threshold, categorizing them as 'traditional military activity.'"
Links to => Sep 20, 2018:
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 25/ "In general, the president’s directive — called National Security Presidential Memorandum 13, or NSPM 13 — frees the military to engage, without a lengthy approval process, in actions that fall below the 'use of force' or a level that would cause death (con't)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 26/ ...destruction or significant economic impacts..."
Lots of focus on malign influence generated on foreign soil, but is anyone responsible for malign domestic influence? (I think the answer is 'no,' because of 1st amendment rights.) more...

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 27/ "The Dept of Homeland Security tracks foreign interference in US elections that exploits divisions through the spread of misinformation on social networks" but Twitter said spread of misinformation appeared to originate in the US. (more.)
Nov 11, 2019:

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1194230900801847296

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 28/ Nov 5, 2019 interview w/DHS CISA (aka Microsoft lobbyist) in charge of secure US elections. h/t @PortlusGlam
Krebs looks like he has no idea what he's doing😱, and attemps reassurance by saying 'I've gotten all the direction I need from the WH.'😟
cbsnews.com/news/2020-pres…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 29/ "Prior to coming to DHS, he [Krebs] was a member of Microsoft’s 👉U.S. Govt Affairs team👈 [aka Microsoft lobbyist] as the Director for Cybersecurity Policy, where he led Microsoft’s U.S. policy work on cybersecurity and technology issues." (more...)
dhs.gov/person/christo…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 30/ Results of a single tweet by a domestic bot/amplifier with 👉19 Twitter followers👈 after polls closed on Nov 5, 2019 in Kentucky election⤵️. (more...)
Nov 10, 2019:
nytimes.com/2019/11/10/us/…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 31/ "The tweet about the shredded ballots was first noticed by the [Kentucky] secretary of state’s office, which alerted law enforcement officials and Twitter. The 👉tweet was quickly taken down👈... (con't)
archive.is/Qg1ql

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 32/ ...but by then it had already been captured in a screenshot and would be widely shared. Data compiled by VineSight, a start-up that detects disinformation on social media, showed that many of the accounts that tweeted the screenshot...appeared to be bots. (con't)

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 33/ ...Their tweets, in turn, were spread by other bots."
GOP began leveraging social media amplification during Obama admin.
ForAmerica: a 👉single post👈 on Facebook⤵️=> command to digital army (same phrase used by Flynn in 2015) more...
Dec 8, 2014:

https://twitter.com/ThomasS4217/status/1165190472056397824

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 34/ Dec 8, 2014: "In the last 4 years, ForAmerica has quietly amassed what it likes to call a 👉'digital army'👈* on Facebook—a force that that now numbers more than 7 million." (more...)
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 35/ "The Bozells wouldn't say who underwrites ForAmerica, but tax records show that 👉$2.4 million👈 of the $2.52 million the organization raised in 2013 came from 👉a single donor👈." ("Brent Bozell, the nephew of National Review founder William F Buckley👀") more...

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 36/ Chris Wylie included what appears to be a ForAmerica proposal by Cambridge Analytica during same timeframe as The Atlantic article, but it's unclear whether ForAmerica agreed to pay Cambridge Analytica $200,000 for work btwn Sep-Nov 2014.
Pages 44-47⤵️
parliament.uk/documents/comm…

@PortlusGlam @CISAgov @DHSgov @CISAKrebs 37/ Here's another screenshot of materials Wylie provided UK parliament in April 2018. (I have no idea what the AIQ value and SCL values are referring to, but including for those who may find interesting.) /end