NYT hypes China threat: They’re reading the internet

NYT hypes China threat: They’re reading the internet

That Beijing is mining publicly available information is not new or surprising but fear mongering about it in Washington is good for business.

The Times was passing on findings from an analysis by threat intelligence company Recorded Future, which says a Chinese open-source intel company has been mining publicly available information from the Office of Net Assessment, a Pentagon think tank, and the U.S. Naval War College.

Related:

Exclusive: Google, CIA Invest in ‘Future’ of Web Monitoring

The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time — and says it uses that information to predict the future. The company is called Recorded Future, and it scours tens of thousands of websites, blogs and Twitter accounts to find the relationships between people, […]

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FBI Interviews Sarah Bils, the Donbass Devushka, as the DOJ and NCIS Probes Her Past

The DOJ and NCIS confirm that Bils is under multiple investigations, as details of a trouble past come to light.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh was peppered with questions about Bils during a Monday press briefing. When asked if the Department of Defense was aware that the former Navy chief petty officer had been posting Russian propaganda since 2014 and if she had been under investigation prior to the revelation of the document leak, Ms. Singh replied, “Because this investigation is ongoing, I would refer you to the DOJ for that.”

The investigation by the FBI and NCIS comes at a time when the U.S. government appears to be cracking down on Russian influence [dissent] in American politics. In a separate case, the DOJ announced on Tuesday that four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals have been charged with “conspiring to covertly sow discord in U.S. society, spread Russian propaganda, and interfere illegally in U.S. elections.” A federal grand jury alleges that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents recruited, funded, and discredited U.S. political groups to act as unregistered Moscow agents. Omali Yeshitela, Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel, and Augustus Romain Jr. of St. Petersburg, Florida, have been charged with violating the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and each faces up to five years in prison.

FBI Interviews Sarah Bils, the Donbass Devushka, as the DOJ and NCIS Probes Her Past

NAFO claims that Donbass Devushka’s Telegram channel was started in 2014 (during the war in Donbas?), while Bellingcat alleges that it was the first to publicly leak the Pentagon documents. Malcontent News suggests that she could be charged as a foreign agent due to her loose association with Rybar. They incorrectly state that the members of the Uhuru Movement are being charged under FARA. They’re being charged under Title 18 U.S.C. §951, according to the indictment. FYI, speech is restricted, under the UCMJ, while serving in the military.

Previously:

NAFO: Social-Media Account Overseen by Former Navy Noncommissioned Officer Helped Spread Secrets

Four Americans and two Russians conspired to sway elections, influence politics, Justice Department says

NAFO: Social-Media Account Overseen by Former Navy Noncommissioned Officer Helped Spread Secrets

Twitter thread on ThreadReader

Social-Media Account Overseen by Former Navy Noncommissioned Officer Helped Spread Secrets

There is no evidence that Ms. Bils, who had a security clearance during her Navy service, has used that access to steal any classified information herself. “I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials. We didn’t leak them,” she said.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a spokesman for the Pentagon, referred requests for comment on Ms. Bils and her role in reposting classified information to the Justice Department, which declined to comment

Related:

Pekka Kallioniemi’s ‘v@tniksoup’ (Who’s Who list of who to follow?!)

Donbass Devushka’s Linktree

ICC’s Putin arrest warrant based on State Dept-funded report that debunked itself

On March 17, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, introduced an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Llova-Belova. The warrant, which accused Putin and Lolva-Belova of conducting the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to a “network of camps” across the Russian Federation, inspired a wave of incendiary commentary in the West.

ICC’s Putin arrest warrant based on State Dept-funded report that debunked itself

Related:

YouTube: The Grayzone exposes shoddy ICC warrant against Putin