CYBERWAR/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA: “Russian software developer Kaspersky Lab said Friday [10-6-17] it had become a ‘pawn in a geopolitical conflict’ between Russia and the U.S., following the disclosure its software was used to help Russian intelligence steal secrets from the U.S. National Security Agency.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported the theft of highly classified material by hackers believed to be working for the Russian government. According to individuals familiar with the matter, hackers used antivirus tools developed by Russia-based Kaspersky to target the information after a contractor put the material on his home computer equipped with the software.
In a statement to the news agency Interfax, the software maker denied any involvement in cyberespionage…
News of the hack, believed by experts to be one of the most significant security breaches in years, comes amid widespread concerns in Washington over cybersecurity. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia meddled in last year’s presidential election, but U.S. President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the intelligence community’s assessments, and called a special investigator’s probe into allegations that members of his campaign had ties with Russian officials a ‘witch hunt.’ “
-Thomas Grove, “Russian Cybersecurity Firm Says It Is a ‘Pawn’ in U.S. Conflict,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 6, 2017 06:25am