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Guccifer 2.0 Opsec Fail

#1

One of the individuals maintaining Guccifer 2.0’s social media presence forgot to use a virtual private network to access a US-based social media platform, thus leaving an Internet Protocol address located in Moscow in the service’s logs. Working from that address, a source told the Daily Beast’s Spencer Ackerman and Kevin Poulsen that analysts were able to dig deeper and associate Guccifer 2.0 with a single individual: “a GRU officer working out of the agency’s headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow,”

Rly? We don’t really encourage global intelligence agencies trying to subvert user freedoms to use Whonix but doing so might have helped in this situation… Just sayin’…

Apparently, the operation was handed off to a more senior GRU officer with better English skills (and worse infosec ability). +1 “Privacy by default”.

#2

Ars Technica

Obvious Propaganda is Obvious

#3

But not so obvious that you felt the need to point it out.

The only obvious propaganda is coming from me with my shameless Whonix plug. (which doesn’t depend on the veracity of the story.)

#4

I was referring to your source, not you specifically.

Russia is the new boogieman.

Domestic Terrorists in the 90s, Al Qaeda in the 00s, ISIS in the 10s, and now Russia will be the new boogieman for the upcoming decade.

Russia and USA have always been, and will always be, very close allies.

Don’t get sucked into the Us vs Them Paradigm. The top 1% all work together, and don’t care anything about national borders.

They don’t need russians to rig elections, the diebold machines come pre-programmed with the desired winners.

If you want an “Us vs Them” make it the 99% (Us) vs the 1% (Them).

Destroy oligarchies via decentralization.

#5

I know. :slight_smile: I was implicitly questioning your sources.

Russia is the new boogieman.

Plausible.

Russia and USA have always been, and will always be, very close allies.

“Close allies”? I would’ve gone with “dependent enemies”.

Don’t get sucked into the Us vs Them Paradigm.

Telling Whonix users that things aren’t always what they seem is rather… well, obvious.

The top 1% all work together, and don’t care anything about national borders.

As a pure, unsubstantiated guess, I would say the top 1% work together - unless it’s in their interest not to work together - but that’s kind of obvious. (ie I will kill you and take your money. Or I will dump my products and trash your stock. Or I will buy your debt and force you into default. Or I will support governments that support me and not you, etc, etc ad infinitum). Your understanding of the 1% seems a bit limited. Or you haven’t watched any Game of Thrones…

They don’t need russians to rig elections, the diebold machines come pre-programmed with the desired winners.

Can’t evaluate that statement. Evidence?

If you want an “Us vs Them” make it the 99% (Us) vs the 1% (Them).

What makes you think I’m part of the 99%?

Destroy oligarchies via decentralization.

Sounds good to me.

PS I’m mostly screwing with you. Sorry if I ruined the mood…

#6

Law of Averages

The top 1% (or really, the top 0.01%) may be competitive like siblings are, but ultimately they are working to towards the same goals.

More reading:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/alien_humanitymanipulationalien38.htm

Note: They accurately predicted Bitcoin (New currency), and Fukushima (West Coast of NorCal uninhabitable).

Scholars such as Dr. Michael Salla have not been able to “debunk” anything claimed in the above link.

USA vs Russia doesn’t make much sense if you accept that both are trying to implement a One World Government.

There may be some jockeying for position near the top of the pyramid, but ultimately their interests are aligned.

#7

I have read about this on HackerNews and I was surprised that so many “gurus” there are so clueless.

Whonix users are more security aware, does anybody from this community actually believe the bullshit that I quoted? Somebody on HN pointed out that people doing these kind of things at three letter agencies are unlikely to log directly, going around some middleman secure anonymous network (and this is the same principle that Whonix itself is built on), because such a mistake can cost them their career, in Russia it can cost them even more. But that NH poster was heavily downvoted.

#8

It’s definitely hard to be believe - but then you’re asking Whonix users who are here specifically to avoid such missteps.

Every darknet market admin has made similar opsec mistakes even though their lives and freedoms also depended on maintaining anonymity. Wired’s version is a bit more nuanced:

Though it may feel surprising every time, elite hackers regularly make crucial opsec mistakes. North Korean hackers accidentally exposed their IP addresses during their attack on Sony Pictures in 2015. Investigators traced two of the founders of the dark web marketplace Silk Road simply because both men used their personal email addresses to establish accounts related to the project. And researchers at the Russian antivirus firm Kasperksy Labs exposed evidence in 2015 of an elite hacking group tied to the NSA, after the group accidentally let some IP addresses it owned expire, allowing Kaspersky to buy them and track malware that phoned home to them.

You would think that professionals would have controls and policies in place to prevent such mistakes but then you look at leaks where guys like Harold Martin walk out the door with classified info from nearly every US intel agency… or where classified info is left on an unsecured AWS server… makes you wonder.

Anyway, it’s possible the whole story is a fabrication. It’s also possible that IDF compromised a GRU machine and framed them. And also possible that somebody just fucked up. No way to know unless Mr. GRU turns up next in Siberia.