[AlJazeera] Towards the end of September, I received a few emails from Google informing me that someone tried to break into my email. It was not the first time I had received messages like that, so the first thing I did was check the email address from which they were sent. The links in the emails led to phishing websites made to look like Gmail and if I had put my password there, hackers would have gained control over my email.
In late September and early October, dozens of other Russian journalists, activists and workers in NGOs such as Transparency International received similar phishing emails. This is the biggest wave of hacking attacks on dissidents in Russia so far, but by far not the first one.
I have been encountering such phishing emails since 2014 and it is not a secret who is behind them. Back then in 2014, the hacking group which was behind such attempts was known as Pawn Storm; today after the attacks on the servers of the US State Department, this group has become known as Fancy Bear.
Just in case, I sent the emails to four different organisations dealing with cyber security and they confirmed that they originated from Fancy Bear/Pawn Storm. This is the group that regularly attacks people and institutions of interest to the Kremlin: from Russian opposition politicians and journalists, to NATO and US political organisations.
They are attacking not just email accounts, but also various messengers. For example, the Telegram accounts of two Russian activists - Grigory Alburov and Oleg Kozlovski - were hacked. The perpetrators managed to break in by intercepting the SMS confirmation sent through the mobile operator.
Some internet companies have also actively been cooperating with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the General Administration for Combating Extremism. Those companies who do not cooperate with the FSB start facing problems. It was resistance to the FSB demanding access to the social networking site Vkontakte that resulted in its founder leaving his post as chief executive of his company and departing from Russia for good.
I was on a watch list for a while. It would happen that during a regular train ride, I would be approached and taken to a local police station for a "preventative chat". It would be a completely meaningless action whose only purpose was to make me understand: "We are watching you closely."
But these days, state surveillance has been expanding beyond spying on the usual suspects. Most recently, under the guise of a sociological study, a survey was carried out in Russian universities to probe protest activity and readiness. The organiser of the survey admitted that the information on all students who showed opposition attitudes were submitted to the authorities.
The state is not even trying to hide the extensive surveillance over its citizens. State TV and websites regularly release "leaks" discrediting public figures; they are usually obtained through email hacks, phone tapping and hidden cameras. Sometimes these "leaks" contain genuine information, sometimes they are fabricated and sometimes both.
All these instruments - following, threatening and campaigns for discrediting - are typical of the Soviet times and, of course, they are well-known to Vladimir Putin as a former KGB agent. But why is it specifically in the past few years that we see this intense activity of the secret services in controlling public sentiments?
The reasons are several and the main one is economics. For the first time since Putin came to power, the standard of living in Russia has started to deteriorate due to the drop in oil prices. Sanctions are exacerbating the situation.
According to the official statistics, the number of people living under the poverty line has increased over the past year and a half to 23 million people, while the proportion of the population which spends all of their money for food has almost doubled from 22 percent to 41 percent.
Some commentators have objected, saying that not everything is "so bad" since there are no mass protests. Regardless of that, the state over the past few years has done everything to rein in independent media and political movements.
It seems all this surveillance and intimidation is working quite well.
[The News (Pak)] Some of us ‐ I can’t say how many but a good number certainly, in this number included battalions of retired officers who are always waiting for miracles to happen ‐ were eager for something to happen round about the end of October and the beginning of November.
The march on the capital ‐ which as we know well by now did not quite turn out to be anything like Mussolini’s march on Rome when his Fascist Party seized power ‐ we took to be the catalyst that would set things in motion. The capital would be paralysed, compelling the real battalions to move and the oligarchs to run for cover. No one quite spelled it out this way but this was the general outline of the miracle that was fondly, perhaps foolishly, expected to happen.
Two things happened instead. The march fizzled out before it began. It was a tactical blunder, a foolish masterstroke, to announce a march, and the capital’s seizure, beforehand. Even wars are not announced this way. You strike first, whether at Pearl Harbour or the invasion of Iraq, and make the formal declaration of war afterwards. That’s what cold start doctrine is all about ‐ stealthy, lightning attack first and everything else later. Take away the element of surprise and before even the first shot is fired half your advantage is lost.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2016 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak)] The term ’Islamic fundamentalism’ has invariably been used in recent times to define the political radicalisation of fringe groups in Moslem states, groups that have haunted the political status quo both in the East and the West. The economic globalisation of post colonialism has tended to generate an international political milieu where it becomes hard to define any political event across the globe in the strict geographical sense.
The relationship of core and periphery in terms of globalisation is an important aspect to understand the rise of what is called Islamic fundamentalism. The core of the capitalist system benefit the most from globalisation whereas the peripheral economies of the developing world are adversely affected by it.
Islamism has risen in societies tarnished by the globalisation of capitalism on the one hand, and rise of postcolonial dependent politicianship in their societies on the other. The political and economic dependence these postcolonial societies inherited has perpetuated with the same intensity, framed in the models followed by the ruling elite of Moslem societies; these models could serve the interests of core economies only. The political reforms of Mustafa Kemal in the aftermath of the First World War were an attempt to modernise the traditional political and economic structure of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
a rambling mostly incoherent essay which, near as I can tell, blames Islamic terrorism on capitalism
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/09/2016 0:13 Comments ||
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#2
Its long past time to call Islam according to their own terms. Those that wish to inflict harm upon "infidels" aren't "extremists".
Let's see what Trump does about Moslem immigration. Let's see what happens to the Moslems who are already here. Let's see how Merkel does and the EUroweenies in general. They let a LOT of Moslems in...and learned what that gets you. Stupid people don't live to be old.
Allow me to repeat myself...you want to Pray with your butt in the air ? Just BEND OVER, clown.
Fresh off the reject pile (didn't even have to dig)...
If Raqqah's poor Arabs can't spell it,
There's no lack of ways they can yell it --
Cue Hemingway: "Prayer?
With butts in the air?" --
And a thousand one ways you can smell it.
#9
IMHO, one don't need to waste too much time on rethinking this. Regarding enemies: If you look like a duck, walk like a duck and talk like a duck - guess what!
[Breitbart] TEHRAN (AFP) ‐ Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said there was "no possibility" of its nuclear deal with world powers being overturned by US president-elect Donald Trump despite his threat to rip it up. New boss not like the old boss. President Rouhani - YOU ARE FIRED !
I've been spending the past hour sending e-mails to the dipwads at Deadspin (i.e., Gawker 2.0). Specifically, the ones who don't want to stick to sports and feel like opining about what an awful person Trump is and how we're racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, xenophobes and more, just for supporting him.
There's a lot of butthurt over there today, and I've sent out four e-mails; three of them were basically shoving their noses into a pile of shit while the fourth one was much more professional in tone, simply pointing out that his political instincts and analysis were all wrong.
Here's my question - do I keep kicking sand in their faces, or should I stop here? I should probably opt for the latter, lest they start talking to each other and decide to go after me, which would be nice, as it would allow me to point out their intolerance.
#4
Nah, just understand that they never understood 'consent of the governed' mistaking it with 'only people who agree with me' and their concept of democracy is as in 'People's Democratic Republic' kind.
This simply is delaying the inevitable blood rending civil war as they demonstrate they'll never consider any other point of view. Their problem is they lack the means and ability to carry it out, once again failing to understand the environment and requirements and expecting to win simply by their own corrupted sense of 'virtue'. The historical record shows it's going to take a lot of blood to adjust such attitudes. As the old Sarge said, 'are you prepared to die on that hill?' A lot of people came out yesterday and said, yes. Now a rationale human perceiving as such would sit back and reevaluate if they want to die on that hill too, instead of going into hysterics and lower primate behaviors. So, the clock will continue to click down.
#5
Now a rationale human perceiving as such would sit back and reevaluate if they want to die on that hill too, instead of going into hysterics and lower primate behaviors.
Funny you mention that - I was considering the paradox of liberals, who generally want big government, who flip out at a Republican victory when, if government was smaller and less obtrusive, it wouldn't matter much if at all.
When something comes up on a tax return, the first thing I ask myself is 'Did I make a mistake?' I'm pretty sure that's the last question they ask when something goes wrong.
#12
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Trump's feet will have to be held over the fire too as will any other leaders in the future. One cannot sleep.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
