In April 2016, computer technicians at the Democratic National Committee discovered that someone had accessed the organization's computer servers and conducted a theft that is best described as Watergate 2.0. In the weeks that followed, the nation's top computer security experts discovered that the cyber thieves had helped themselves to everything: sensitive documents, emails, donor information, even voice mails.Soon after, the remainder of the Democratic Party machine, the congressional campaign, the Clinton campaign, and their friends and allies in the media were also hacked. Credit cards numbers, phone numbers, and contacts were stolen. In short order, the FBI found that more than twenty-five state election offices had their voter registration systems probed or attacked by the same hackers.Western intelligence agencies tracked the hack to Russian spy agencies and dubbed them the CYBER BEARS. The media was soon flooded with the stolen information channeled through Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. It was a massive attack on America but the Russian hacks appeared to have a singular goal—elect Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.New York Times bestselling author and career intelligence officer Malcolm Nance's fast paced real-life spy thriller takes you from Vladimir Putin's rise through the KGB from junior officer to spymaster-in-chief and spells out the story of how he performed the ultimate political manipulation—convincing Donald Trump to abandon seventy years of American foreign policy including the destruction of NATO, cheering the end of the European Union, allowing Russian domination of Eastern Europe, and destroying the existing global order with America at its lead.The Plot to Hack America is the thrilling true story of how Putin's spy agency, run by the Russian billionaire class, used the promise of power and influence to cultivate Trump as well as his closest aides, the Kremlin Crew, to become unwitting assets of the Russian government. The goal? To put an end to 240 years of free and fair American democratic elections.Praise for Malcolm Nance's New York Times bestselling Defeating ISIS:"I really think the [2016 Presidential] candidates ought to read this…. You should buy this book."—RACHEL MADDOW, The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC"A comprehensive, authoritative, and detailed compendium on the Islamic State (ISIS)."—Perspectives on Terrorism"In his detailed and informed study Nance argues that, in effect, America's War on Terror created a new breed of vicious terrorists who wear the mask of Islam like actors in a Kabuki theatre while carrying out horrifically un-Islamic acts."—RICHARD ENGEL, Chief Foreign Correspondent, NBC News, from his forewordON RUSSIAN HACKING"Putin and the leaders throughout the world have no respect for our country anymore and they certainly have no respect for our leader."—DONALD TRUMP, Republican presidential candidate and president of the Trump Organization"We know that Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC and we know that they arranged for a lot of those emails to be released…. But I think laying out the facts raises serious issues about Russian interference in our elections, in our democracy."—HILLARY CLINTON, Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State"What we do know is that the Russians hack our systems. Not just government systems, but private systems."—PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA"As an American double agent who worked against Russian intelligence in the US, this book shows how Putin's spies stop at nothing."—NAVEED JAMALI, former double agent and author of How to Catch a Russian SpyRUSSIA'S RESPONSE"I wouldn't know anything about it. You know, there are so many hackers today and they work with such finesse, planting a trail where and when they need…. It's difficult to trace, if even possible…. The important thing here is what the public was shown…. One shouldn't draw the public attention from the core of the issue by replacing it with secondary details like who did it."—VLADIMIR PUTIN"Overall, we still see attempts to use—manically use—the Russian issue during the US electoral campaign…. The absurd claims were immediately refuted directly by a presidential candidate's family."—DMITRY PESKOV, Russian government spokesman
The 2016 presidential election was already surreal—a former reality TV host fueled by white backlash had completed a hostile takeover of the Republican Party—before the bears emerged.
By the summer, as the campaign intensified, a WordPress page operated by someone claiming the mantle Guccifer2.0 was dumping embarrassing emails and memoranda stolen from the Democratic National Committee. When the anti-secrecy organization Wikileaks did the same thing, Guccifer2.0 claimed credit as the source; Wikileaks has kept its sourcing obscure. But the leaks showed the Democrats’ political apparatus to be petty, vindictive and determined to anoint Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee despite grassroots enthusiasm for challenger Bernie Sanders. Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned.
Then something unexpected happened.
Cybersecurity researchers analyzing the committee network breach noticed that the particulars of the attack showed distinct patterns for gaining access—familiar patterns. Their tools were prohibitively expensive for random hackers, particularly their use of previously unknown software flaws. Instead, the researchers concluded, the hack was the work of two well-known groups tied to Russian intelligence. They are known by the weird names Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear.
Intelligence professionals weren’t actually mad at the Russians for digitally breaking into the DNC. “That’s a valid intelligence target,” one cybersecurity analyst and Defense Intelligence Agency veteran told me. But usually they hoard stolen data, not spill it out onto the Internet. Suddenly, it looked like the bears had changed their game.
Attributing culpability for cyberattacks is difficult. Competent spy agencies labor to make it nigh-impossible. But it didn’t take long before Obama administration and congressional leaders started expressing with unusual certainty—off the record, of course—that Russia was behind the assault. A theory emerged. The Russians were putting a digital thumb on the scale of the US election to help the aforementioned reality-TV host—who just happened to be running on the most pro-Russia platform in GOP history.
As of this writing, the election is undecided. And there are knowledgeable cybersecurity researchers skeptical of Russian involvement. So here comes Malcolm Nance, an intelligence, counterterrorism, and national-security lifer, to sort out what’s known, what’s suspected, and what it all means. If you’ve read books like
It’s worth scrutinizing this bizarre episode in American politics and security. It’s unlikely to be a one-off event. After all, bears tend to go where they want—unless something stops them.
Beginning in March and April 2016, an unknown person or persons hacked into the computer servers of the Democratic National Committee. Over time it became clear that the hackers were targeting very specific information in the DNC files—the opposition research the Democrats had dug up on their Republican opponent Donald J. Trump. Once they had the information they wanted, the cyber-spies rooted around in the computers for several months thereafter, stealing other files such as personal emails, digital voice mails, and sensitive personal information on donors. This included the donors’ bank account, credit card, and social security numbers. The DNC discovered the intrusion while performing a security check, and shut their network down. However, the damage was done.
