RUSSIAN HACKING AND THE US ELECTIONS. SAME OLD CAR….JUST NEW PAINT.

So the Russians attempted to manipulate data to influence an event in the US? Is that earth shattering? Is this yet another example of just how devious the Tsar truly is? It makes a great news story for those reporters and listeners who have no clue how events between countries have taken place for thousands of years. Four thousand years ago, the Egyptians and the Chinese manipulated information to influence the opinions and the actions of civilian populations and the truth be known, it was probably going on even before these two great societies were established. The Spanish Inquisition. Now, there is a great example of manipulating information. Radio Free Europe! Who ran that program? What was the overall, strategic purpose? Yep. To destabilize, impact, foreign governments. Tokyo Rose….Ditto! In the 21^st century, does anyone really believe the concept is going to change? What’s the old saying,  “ Information is power”!

In 2016 and beyond, countries are going to continue to refine the weaponization of information. If most of that information is now stored on the worldwide web, then that is where the fight is going to move to, it already has. Why do you think the US and others are spending Billions of dollars on cyber operations? The fact of the matter is, everyone is doing it, but some have fewer restrictions on what their government will allow them to do and that means someone or some nation has and will have the advantage.

The story goes the Russians hacked into private emails that painted a very embarrassing picture of the Democratic Party in the US. Stop to ask yourself one question. Why would the Tsar pick Trump over Hillary Clinton? I will tell you why, because the Tsar and his government were and still are convinced that Hillary Clinton was part of an information campaign to unravel the Tsar’s government. Yep. Hillary was part of an information warfare operation. You can imagine how entertaining I found the accusations against the Russians to be. By the way, Hillary is on record stating she believed the Putin administration should be defeated! Gee, I wonder why the Tsar was out to get her.

Are there boundaries to the concept of information warfare? No. Should elections and the ability to influence elections be placed off limits? No. No, because it would never hold. What happened in the US elections cycle is nothing new. It will happen again. It will happen at the hands of the West, the East and anyone else who sees information that can further their plans.

Here is a bit of advice that I fully believe no politician can ever follow. Don’t send emails that might embarrass you or incriminate you. Did anyone happen to notice the emails that were hacked were never disputed as being factual? Yes, I know towards the end, Hillary’s camp tried to say the emails were forged, but unfortunately for her camp, the ability to show authenticity is well known. How dare someone leak emails that shows how dishonest a politician is!

It’s the 21^st century and the worldwide web, social media are only going to become more complex. The ability to communicate without someone knowing your true intentions is always going to be a risk that will have to be weighed.

In the end, this story is a few thousand years old and something tells me releasing a few emails is going to be seen as child’s play compared to what will happen in the future.