After a few months, in November 2014, the Dutch watched as the Russian hackers penetrated the computer network of the State Department.
Intelligence hackers from Dutch AIVD (General Intelligence and Security Service) had penetrated the Cozy Bear computer servers as well as a security camera at the entrance of their working space, located in a university building adjacent to the Red Square in Moscow. about Russian hack of Democratic Party by Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal JanuIn the Summer of 2015, Dutch intelligence services were the first to alert their American counterparts about the cyberintrusion of the Democratic National Committee by Cozy Bear, a hacking group believed to be tied to the Russian government. They should have realized they were dealing with someone who was either unknowledgeable in cybersecurity or simply unwilling to pursue the issue – an incredibly common occurrence in the world of IT – and they should have sent a representative to the DNC to initiate an investigation through someone willing to take the threat seriously.Decatur had a post that indicated they had real time images of complete data sets taken while the hacking was in progress.ĭutch intelligence first to alert U.S. Ultimately, the blame still lies with the FBI. However, the article also noted that the contractor was not a security expert, so he wouldn't have known if his scans were thorough enough to uncover the suspected malware. From the NY Times article, it appeared the contractor took some cursory steps to verify the FBI's claims, but dropped it when he found no evidence of an intrusion. Even without confirmation of the caller's identity, any report received regarding a threat to your systems should be taken seriously and escalated to the proper personnel. That being said, the contractor failed at performing a proper follow-up. So, shame on the FBI for attempting to alert the DNC via a phone call and some voicemails. Even doing something as seemingly innocuous as verifying an OS or the existence of a particular host on a network can assist illegitimate callers in footprinting and enumerating your infrastructure in preparation for an attack. You cannot simply take them at their word and engage them in detailed conversation. It is not at all unusual for IT departments in Federal agencies to receive communications from people claiming to work for law enforcement, intelligence, or a vendor. Seems to me that I go to more effort when I fix relatives’ computers than the FBI goes to protect a front runner in the US presidential election.įound this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter to read more of the exclusive content we post.įrom what I can tell, there was a failure on both ends of this issue. Or 25 minutes (just over a mile) if you fancy a gentle stroll, which would leave you enough time to pick up some donuts on the way. Yup, the DNC stopped returning the FBI agent’s calls.Īt that point, wouldn’t it have been worth the FBI popping around to the DNC’s offices if they weren’t returning their calls? How much effort would that have been? One imagines that they would have been able to convince the DNC pretty quickly that they really were the FBI then…Īccording to Google Maps, it’s about a six minute drive from the FBI to the DNC’s Washington DC headquarters. Tamene, urging him to call back, “I did not return his calls, as I had nothing to report,” Mr. So when Special Agent Hawkins called repeatedly in October, leaving voice mail messages for Mr. Tamene’s initial scan of the DNC system - using his less-than-optimal tools and incomplete targeting information from the FBI - found nothing. Nor could he email anyone there, as that risked alerting the hackers that the FBI knew they were in the system. Part of the problem was that Special Agent Hawkins did not show up in person at the DNC. intelligence community and in cybersecurity circles.” Tamene wrote in an internal memo about his contacts with the FBI He added that “the Special Agent told me to look for a specific type of malware dubbed ‘Dukes’ by the U.S. “The FBI thinks the DNC has at least one compromised computer on its network and the FBI wanted to know if the DNC is aware, and if so, what the DNC is doing about it,” Mr.
#Does the fbi have the dnc server how to#
He was left to figure out, largely on his own, how to respond - and even whether the man who had called in to the DNC switchboard was really an FBI agent. Brown and fielded the call from the FBI agent, was not a full-time DNC employee he works for a Chicago-based contracting firm called The MIS Department. No, what surprises and disappoints me is the FBI’s failure to warn the DNC effectively of the seriousness of just what was going on.Īs the New York Times reported earlier this month, the FBI initially reached out to the DNC via telephone:
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