Obama official: We could have stopped Russian trolls [W:37]

Brett Bruen, who served as the White House director of global engagement from 2013 to 2015, said he warned colleagues on President Barack Obama's National Security Council in 2014 that America would be targeted by Russian trolls. His warnings came after he saw how the Russians used the same methods -- social media meddling and propaganda -- to sow discord during Ukraine's election in 2014.
"I was sitting in the Situation Room saying, 'Why do we continue to look at this as an issue that only concerns Ukraine, that only concerns Eastern Europe? This is something that's going to march across Western Europe. This is something that's going to march over to our shores, and we need to be ready,' " Bruen told CNN.

Click to expand...

If hackers were to knock out 100 strategically chosen generators in the Northeast, for example, the damaged power grid would quickly overload, causing a cascade of secondary outages across multiple states. While some areas could recover quickly, others might be without power for weeks.

The scenario isn’t completely hypothetical. Lawmakers and government officials got a preview in 2003, when a blackout spread from the coastal Northeast into the Midwest and Canada.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

I call bull**** on this official. The administration had their shot and failed. Now they may have done something later on but that’s a crystal ball there and obviously just opinion.

The fact is trump hasn’t done anything to stop the trolls.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

"I would have loved to have had more support for that from all across government, not just from the State Department but from the intelligence and defense communities as well," said Rick Stengel, the State Department's undersecretary of state for public affairs under Obama.

"But even today, I'm not sure that there is an effective way of countering, much less thwarting, disinformation and propaganda. And if there is, I haven't heard of it," he said.

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

I call bull**** on this official. The administration had their shot and failed. Now they may have done something later on but that’s a crystal ball there and obviously just opinion.

The fact is trump hasn’t done anything to stop the trolls.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

Mycroft said:

I think the most effective way to counter this stuff is for the citizenry to be aware, to think critically instead of with bias and for everyone to remember that 90% of what you see on the internet is BS.

Click to expand...

apdst said:

Nice job trying to cover for Obama.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

I gave an opinion, I know you cons think only you have free speech. Deal with it.

Click to expand...

apdst said:

I'm excercising my right to free speech by pointing out your double standard.

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

There is no double standard.

Click to expand...

apdst said:

There absolutely is. You're blaming President Trump for what happened in 2013; blaming him for Obama's failure.

Click to expand...

I call bull**** on this official. The administration had their shot and failed. Now they may have done something later on but that’s a crystal ball there and obviously just opinion.

Click to expand...

The fact is trump hasn’t done anything to stop the trolls.

Click to expand...

Mycroft said:

I found this interesting.



I think the most effective way to counter this stuff is for the citizenry to be aware, to think critically instead of with bias and for everyone to remember that 90% of what you see on the internet is BS.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

You really need to read before you respond, here is EXACTLY what I said.

First part:



Right above there I was SPECIFICALLY saying that the Obama Administration had their shot and FAILED. Then I put in a comment that they "MAY" have done something but we will never know and that it is just an OPINION.

Now, the second part:



It is FACT that Trump hasn't done anything to stop the trolls because they are still there and will still be there for 2018 midterms and maybe even the 2020 election cycle.

Now please explain how it is a double standard to blame the Obama admin for the previous trolls and pointing out that Trump isn't doing anything now?

I'd wait for an apology, but I know you won't give one for you being soo wrong.

Click to expand...

apdst said:

You claimed they tried. This guy is saying they didn't even try.

Click to expand...

Then you passed the buck to President Trump.

Click to expand...

We see what you did. Stop lying.

Click to expand...

JANFU said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/brett-bruen-russian-meddling-election/index.html


Far to many dropped the ball, the new warfare is Cyber, has been for years, from power grids to elections.
Hardening these targets including subtle attacks are needed.
Just imagine if the West Coast power grid was completely disrupted? Including the planned destruction of equipment that would take many months or longer to repair/replace.


Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario | TheHill

Click to expand...

Exactice said:

Its funny... a nuke/bomb is not as bad as we think..... its the PEOPLE that would cause more havoc than we could ever imagine.

With a nuke itself it would cause radius destruction and loss of life, But the collateral damage would be immense.

NOW Imagine NO loss of life, but loss of electricity like you mention, or a disruption in food supply, in Desperation Humans become animals and fall on basic instinct. This means they become more dangerous than they are now. We "act" like Americans are of a civil society... yet, we dont even ACT civil now... imagine, when there is not government, no support, no basic needs and no law...


Exactly what you said though JANFU. We knew... BUT what the hell are we actually doing now? Are or are we NOT handling it. This is the thing, Trump said that he would not "discuss" any strategic plans as that is like tell other people @ the porker table what cards you got... But still it would be nice to know, that we are "handling" things......

Click to expand...

danarhea said:

My question to Obama - Why didn't you? You were president at the time, so the blame rests with you.

Click to expand...

Praxas said:

I call bull**** on this official. The administration had their shot and failed. Now they may have done something later on but that’s a crystal ball there and obviously just opinion.

The fact is trump hasn’t done anything to stop the trolls.

Click to expand...