• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Hidden Harmonies China Blog

Hidden Harmonies China Blog

As China Re-Awakens, Finding New Harmonies in a Brave New World...

  • About Us
  • China Charities
  • FAQ
    • Terms of Service
  • Recommended Readings

Short Note on Media Disinformation: No, No, No… CIA is not Impersonating Others in Hacking Others … There is just not Proof!

March 16, 2017 by Mr. Allen 3 Comments

Vault 7Recently, with Wikileak’s release of so-called “Vault 7” of documents that revealed the vast array of tools the CIA on hacking and spying on American citizens, Western media is on a full-court press of disinformation in pushing back.  One particular spin is how Wikileaks does not prove that CIA has framed or impersonated Russia.  Even usually politically-neutral sites such as Wired has gotten into the act.  Yes, the U.S. did get caught using tools from those bad boys in Russia … and China, but the goal has never been to frame those countries, but to save American resources to use the tools there to advance American aims.  There is no proof of the U.S. framing or impersonating others…

Wait … WAIT!

Notice just how the media has re-framed the issues.

Remember the recent blah blah of Russian hacking and interference of American elections?  Even though the publicly provided evidence was virtually nil, the allegations ripped like wildfire across the nation.  Behind the veil of “national security,” all that is enough to pin the hacks as Russia are some references that the tools used was similar to what other Russian hackers have used … and that the attack was traced to an IP address that was Russian…

This was the same bull shit previously leveled against China and which we had previously analyzed before.  But as we had pointed out so many times before: just because you find some Chinese tools or IP addresses doesn’t mean the attack was Chinese.  Hacker’s tools are for the most part public tools – Chinese, Russian, or otherwise.  Hackers will use each others’ tools – government, private, black hat, white hat, male, female, gay, straight, or others – for their own goals.  So the mere fact that you find a Chinese being used could mean it was the Chinese gov’t, Chinese Maria, or the CIA at the controls.  We just don’t know!

As for IP addresses, as we also have explained, unless you traced the attack to a server that you have access to, IP addresses per se tell you Nada – Nothing – Zilch!   If you do not have direct access to the server – the logs, the logins, etc. – you simply cannot know who actually controlled and launched the attack.

In an age where normal non-tech people use vpn’s to protect their “privacy,” you would think hackers – especially sophisticated state actors – would at least use some sort of multiple IP hops schemes to mask their identity.  In an age where most people have seen emails from their “friend’s” email accounts which have been compromised and used as launching points for sending spams, you would think that most would understand that just because an attack appears to come from a particular server or email account, the actual attacker may be hidden several layers behind what things appear to be.

AND now Vault 7 proves how right we have been all along – with the CIA as a showcase!

Now we know how when the CIA uses tools to mount attacks how those attacks might look very much like attacks from other nations.

So does this prove that it was the CIA and not the Russians that hacked the DNC’s and Hillary’s computers?  Of course not (albeit it sure does raise some interesting possibilities.)  But if all the evidence is of some tools of Russian origin and some Russian IP addresses, well that is not evidence at all.

Many people in the U.S. media want to spin this bombshell into a story that there is yet no proof that it was actually the CIA – not the Russians – are behind the recent “hacking.” This is part of the “disinformation” that we see so often in the U.S. dominated press – twisting and reframing the issues … to reframe the stories….

The issue is not about proving CIA involvement – but the lack of any evidence of Russia behind any hacking.

And even if one is of the conspiracy type: according to wikileaks, Vault 7 represents but 1% of the documents it has from the CIA. Of the released documents, there has been redaction of materials that we do not get to see. Even the full set of documents Wikileaks may have is but a small universe of what exists in reality. So just because what we do not yet see solid proof of CIA’s intentions one way or the other from released public documents doesn’t mean that ergo that CIA has been cleared of anything.

One more thing, perhaps this is just my conspiratorial mind working: remember Apple trying to step up to the U.S. government in the aftermath of the San Bernardino “terror attacks” in 2015?  I’ve always thought that was a marketing stunt than anything else.  For one thing, I always thought, come on, even if the iPhone were that difficult to crack, Apple must have built virtual machines of the iphones – for testing and other purposes.  I am sure the U.S. government has the capability to scan any iPhone (encrypted) and put it in these virtual machines.  While this per se would not break any encryption, the thing is that once you have it in virtual form, you can brute force try out codes because any “self destruction” would but “virtual” and can be restarted.  In general, you can get under the encryption in so many ways if you know what you are doing!

Vault 7 shows that there are many ways to tap into the iPhone and get at data and control before things are encrypted.  If the U.S. government had so much trouble with the San Bernardino iPhone, you think the same government – albeit different departments – could have developed such an extensive array of hacks into the iPhone (and other devices)?

In the real world, I am certain that the major manufacturers of computers, routers, electronics, mobile devices, etc. – willingly or not – have all been colluding with the U.S. government.  When companies such as Apple or Google stand up to the U.S. government – it is all just for show.  It is critical for these companies to do so – and for the U.S. government to help them to do – because business depends on it.  If the thin facade of independence and non-subservience is broken – many people in the world would turn away from U.S. companies to supply these devices.  That means the end of U.S. dominance in tech…  and (more importantly) the end of such easy pervasive surveillance of the world by the U.S. government.

Filed Under: Analysis, politics Tagged With: cyber attacks, cyber security, hacking

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. pug_ster says

    March 19, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    Any Hacker can compile using russian version of hacking tools, did this at Russian time and vpn thru a Russian IP address. Afterwards, then blame the Russians or Chinese hackers for the hack.

    About the Iphone, the CIA and the FBI are 2 different agencies. If the CIA know of such a hack they probably wouldn’t share it with the FBI.

  2. Charles Liu says

    June 2, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    Let’s just say we ain’t doing nothing the Chinese and Russians ain’t doing.

  3. Hompuso says

    March 20, 2023 at 4:34 am

    The materials to be used for repairs and the timing of putting such an order into action should both be carefully considered when choosing a high-quality roof for your home. As a result, I frequently suggest residential flat roof repair because they are professionals in this area and always complete the job swiftly and effectively. It’s also nice that you may obtain a free telephone consultation in our day and age, which enables you to comprehend the general price and schedule of execution.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • 大山的女兒–Daughter of the Mountain
  • No, the Chinese does not express glee over Shinzo Abe’s assassination and how western propaganda got it wrong about what Chinese thinks of Abe
  • The Overt Politicization of the Origins of Covid-19
  • The U.S. Loves Wars…
  • Paul Krugman reaches another low over Covid Vaccines

Recent Comments

  • Hompuso on Short Note on Media Disinformation: No, No, No… CIA is not Impersonating Others in Hacking Others … There is just not Proof!
  • Abraham on The Overt Politicization of the Origins of Covid-19
  • purislot on (Letter) Web search for Tiananmen not censored, but do people care?
  • hanhan on 且谈1989年的天安门事件
  • Twinkle Industries on Open Forum

Tag Cloud

america Beijing censorship China china-u.s. relations coronavirus corruption culture dalai lama defamation againt Chinese democracy earthquake economy education Environment featured freedom freedom of speech Google government history hong kong human rights humor india internet japan media media bias nationalism olympics politics propaganda racism reform riot rule of law sino-u.s. relations sixfour South China Seas taiwan tiananmen tibet U.S. China Relations xinjiang

Archives

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Blogroll

  • China Dialogue
  • China in Africa: The Real Story by Deborah Brautigam
  • Chinese Portal
  • ESWN (東南西北)
  • Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
  • Fool's Mountain (sibling blog)
  • iLook China
  • Moon of Shanghai
  • Outcast Journalism
  • Professor Ann Lee
  • Sino Platonic
  • The Anti-Empire Report

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in