Russian hackers mined voter rolls in order to micro-target people to tip the election

[Baitball Blogger]

and now Republicans have made this intel gathering easier by allowing private companies to buy your browser information.

Seriously, does anyone really believe the companies who buy this information are only interested in selling you a car or their brand of toilet paper? What is the browser pattern for people who are on the verge of nuttery, that a foreign nation can turn in their favor?

I think the Republican legislature just made things exponentially more unsafe for this country.

[atreides1]

1. Republicans don't care about this country!!!

And when I say that, in my opinion that includes Republican voters!!!

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. No, they dont. They care about their micro world and nobody or nothing else.

It is why we should not live in the same country with them.

However, what Putin would love more than anything would be for us to split up or for a state to secede. It weakens the US and that is his goal.

Many of us are just dumb, plain and simple. We favor racism over survival, when I say we I of course mean the tparty types.

[Initech]

22. No, they only care about two things:

1. They're not liberals.
2. They're not liberals.

And that's it pretty much.

[MFM008]

32. And

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[BlueJac]

49. Very, very true!

[TheBlackAdder]

53. Strategy wise, the Russians only had to target the dumbest of the dumbshits to pull this off.

[KittyWampus]

3. Your OP is not supported by facts. Russians hacked into the voter rolls in a few states.

There is zero proof of what you say.

And data mining is already happening.

Nothing stopping Democrats from micro targeting voters with a firm like Cambridge Analytics.

It's too damned bad Clinton's team didn't step into the 21st century and use the technology available.

Hope younger Democrats running for office in next few years understand what's going on and how to use it.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. I don't know where you're going with this.

This is the big story. Russians hacked voter rolls and the intent was to micro-target voters. Are you suggesting that this was okay?



Russian Hackers Targeted Nearly Half of States' Voter Registration Systems, Successfully Infiltrated 4

Nearly half of the states in the U.S. have recently had their voter registration systems targeted by foreign hackers, and four of those systems have successfully been breached, sources tell ABC News.

That amount of targeting and actual infiltration into state election-related systems is significantly larger than the U.S. government has been willing to acknowledge.

Hackers working on behalf of the Russian government are suspected in the onslaught against more than 20 state election systems, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.



http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-senate-russia-probes-headed-paths/story?id=46454962

[KittyWampus]

7. You intentionally left out highlighting this part:

Hackers working on behalf of the Russian government are suspected in the onslaught against more than 20 state election systems, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

Data mining and micro-targeting is happening without Russian hacking.

Republicans are doing it for elections and gerrymandering.

Democrats need to get with the program.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. The hacking alone is being referred to by some as an act of war.

From what I'm reading, it's a given that they did target the voters rolls, and successfully compromised a few. This was known as early as August 2016.

Russians Hacked Two U.S. Voter Databases, Officials Say

Hackers based in Russia were behind two recent attempts to breach state voter registration databases, fueling concerns the Russian government may be trying to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials tell NBC News.

The breaches included the theft of data from as many as 200,000 voter records in Illinois, officials say.

The incidents led the FBI to send a "flash alert" earlier this month to election officials nationwide, asking them to be on the lookout for any similar cyber intrusions.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russians-hacked-two-u-s-voter-databases-say-officials-n639551

[LisaM]

33. Because you think this is okay?

I'd think that the goal would be to prevent this from happening, not to engage in it too.

[GliderGuider]

10. This person took the same tack with me on another thread today.

I'm completely persuaded that:

Russian money paid for Russian hackers to get voter rolls; which were then used by Cambridge Analytica (using Robert Mercer's money) to create micro-targeted ads; which were then distributed by Russian botnets in order to sway the election away from Clinton and toward Trump - all in the interest of Russia's geopolitical goal of destabilizing the West.

That's what the big picture looks like to me. I'm also convinced that much the same thing happened in Brexit.

And I don't give a rat's ass about "proof" at this stage of the game. I know which side I'm on.

[KittyWampus]

13. You are pushing fake news to appeal to DU'ers who want to believe this. You have ZERO PROOF

None.

And thanks for illustrating you are, in fact, saying that Russian fed stuff to Cambridge Analytica. You lose all credibility until you have ANY evidence.

I will say this once again, so any DU'er who cares about reality can follow this story, Cambridge Analytica uses data mining the same way Republicans have been using it for gerrymandering.

They use data culled from social media.

And that information is incredibly accurate in forming psychological profiles.

THEY DON'T NEED RUSSIAN HACKING TO DO THIS.

Now, if there is any actual evidence of what you claim, please provide it.

If evidence ever does crop up, I'll change my stance.

[GliderGuider]

14. No, I'm stating my own speculation.

As I said, I know whose side I'm on.

Why all the vehemence over some random internetter's speculation?

[KittyWampus]

43. You are certainly free to speculate. Facts don't have "sides".

[GliderGuider]

44. I always thought reality had a known liberal bias!

nt

[GliderGuider]

17. They need voter rolls to do the targeting.

Otherwise, how do they place the propaganda correctly? It's one thing to create psychological profiles, but something else entirely to target them with the correct types of information.

[KittyWampus]

20. No, they absolutely do not need voter rolls. They use social media like Facebook.

I think you need to find that long article on Cambridge Analytica and re-read it.

Seriously.

Also, the micro-targeting that's gone into Republican gerrymandering.

They also use stuff like magazine subscriptions.

There's a book called "Ratfucked" that goes into this new aggressive gerrymandering by Republicans.

[Baitball Blogger]

18. I agree. It's a very strange position, given the info that we currently have available.

[LanternWaste]

21. The side that perceives proof as a mere inconvenience, it would appear.

"and I don't give a rat's ass about "proof" at this stage of the game. I know which side I'm on..."

The side that perceives proof as a mere inconvenience, and the right cerebrum as a vestigial trait it would appear.

[GliderGuider]

24. "at this stage of the game"

Ya gotta start somewhere. First comes the hypothesis, then the investigation, out of which comes the evidence to confirm or refute the hypothesis. It's standard scientific method.

Think of this as a hypothesis that is suggested by the available evidence.

[Crabby Appleton]

38. You don't need to do any hacking to get voter rolls where I live

you just go to the county BoE and download the lists which include name, address, party affiliation, etc

for example:

http://boe.hamilton-co.org/data/voter-lists.aspx

most places you can get such info, that's where candidates or issue oriented organizations get mailing lists from, you can also purchase lists from private companies.

[GliderGuider]

40. I wondered about that. Thanks!

As a Canadian, I'm not familiar with what voter information is or is not available in the USA.

[PsychoBabble]

4. A pretty stunning connection ...

... and if you know even the basics about data, you know that they WILL do that, immediately ... holy crap.

Welcome to the new normal.

Not the complete solution, obviously, but WA State uses vote by mail, skips over a lot of the potential voting machine nonsense. Works just fine. Hard to hack an envelope.

[GliderGuider]

12. The problem is, the hacking has now turned from hacking the vote

...to hacking the voters.

Micro-targeted cyber brainwashing is the new normal. And so far, it's legal. And it even works with mail-in ballots.

[PsychoBabble]

19. True ... but

I think we have to throw up firewalls wherever we can, and getting OFF of hackable machines is one of them ... dealing with the influence of voters in media is a separate also important one - much harder. Let's AT LEAST get the easy one done.

[GliderGuider]

26. Agree. Defend every point of vulnerability. nt

[Leith]

41. Not an Expert, But I DO Know a Bit about Big Data

It's already happening.

It can be good in pinpointing areas prone to certain illnesses, like suggesting a local factory could be a cause in the rise of cancer in a couple zip codes.

It can be horrendously bad in gerrymandering voting districts.

Both types have been going on for years.

[blogslut]

5. Interesting point.

Last edited Thu Mar 30, 2017, 01:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Social engineering is definitely a tool that can be enhanced using the information that ISPs have on their customers browsing history.

[Blanks]

8. Let's just say you're right...

When will the republicans realize that if they can target the general election like this, then they could have targeted the primaries similarly.

Not very many of the republicans that I know favored Trump, when are they going to look into the targeting of Republican primaries to get Trump INTO the general election. Among 'real' republicans Kasich or Cruz makes more sense.

He acted like he didn't want to win at times, but he owed the Russians big time for bailing him out financially. Now that he's there it's pretty clear why our enemy would want him as president.

[KittyWampus]

15. Also, Democrats can use this same data.

[kentuck]

9. interesting possibility

We could see how they could do it. Win the minds with propaganda.

[TNLib]

11. data mining has been happening for awhile but the GOP just made it easier

Really the solution is an educated citizenry. Too many people lack any kind of critical thinking skills and are easily susceptible to conspiracies and BS news sources.

[Baitball Blogger]

25. +1

[wordpix]

23. YES! Appears Russian hacking already linked to anti-privacy bill

Now GOP + Russians can get any/all info they want about voters to wreck every election upcoming

[rockfordfile]

27. yes the Russians hacked Americans voter rolls with support by the republicans

[tblue37]

28. Dems keep bringing a pool noodle to a nuclear war! nt

[Baitball Blogger]

30. .

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFh9lVu5ybE/UZ1gYEgTx3I/AAAAAAAASzc/qHWbG-85_8o/s1600/pool+noodle+throne.jpg

[HoneyBadger]

29. I am not familiar with micro targeting

How would one do this to tip the election?

Maybe 30 years back, I remember subliminal suggestions, liquor ads containing silhouettes of naked ladies in ice cubes, always been interested in how this works.

And of course I get targeted all the time, if I add something to my cart but do not checkout, an ad for the item pops up in Facebook. This can be turned off, but I do not bother.

[Baitball Blogger]

34. Found a definition for you on the net.

Microtargeting is (also called micro-targeting or micro-niche targeting) is a marketing strategy that uses consumer data and demographics to identify the interests of specific individuals or very small groups of like-minded individuals and influence their thoughts or actions. An important goal of a microtargeting initiative is to know the target audience so well that messages get delivered through the target's preferred communication channel.

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/microtargeting

I think the operative phrase is "the target's preferred communication channel."

At one time, that would have been exclusively FoxNews. Now it has moved further to the right, such as Breibart and InfoWars. I think these two are the targets of an investigation in right-wing news outlets suspected of treason.

[GliderGuider]

37. There are a lot of suspect sites, including FB and Twitter.

Here's a list:

http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html

All of these are potential channels.

[HoneyBadger]

48. What makes this REALLY interesting is this would make Facebook and Twitter complicit in the hacking

Pulling data is one thing, and is one way, but using it for marketing is interactive and ongoing. It is one of their revenue streams and they do not allow it unless they are involved and getting $. The client (Putin) pays for a certain number of leads, perhaps that is is $xxx for 10k sponsored ads. But if the user clicks through, then Putin pays a much larger fee, maybe $xxx for every 1k clicks. There are relatively few companies doing this globally and they are making bank.

[dchill]

31. Republicans just "made things exponentially more unsafe..."

I'm thinking that they believe that's their job.

[Baitball Blogger]

35. There is definitely something, that on the surface looks a lot like abject idiocy,

or, at least treason, but I think that it might just come down to the almighty dollar.

[dchill]

36. "Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?

Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason." - John Harington

[Gabi Hayes]

45. you know the book that took the last line for its title?

it was my wingnutty parents' (birchers!) bible back in the day, and helped fuel Goldwater's rise to the nomination

we had this sign in our front yard......totally embarrassing:

[dchill]

51. I know OF the book, but haven't read it.

But that sign: Yikes! Barry was scary.

[Gabi Hayes]

52. he'd be tossed out the door if he tried to be a KGOPer today.

he was one of the Goopers who told Nixon to hit the road.....

check this out...four years old, and you know it's way worse now:

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/03/10_past_republicans_whod_never_make_it_in_todays_crazy_gop_partner/

[dchill]

54. Republicans from the 50s and 60s could easily pass...

As Democrats today. The modern GOP does not, IMO, have any really American values. They either want to be billionaires or just get rich sucking up to them.

[Gabi Hayes]

55. amen...can you imagine chuck percy trying to survive with aholes like Cruz?

remember what esteemed atty gen john mitchell said back in the halcyon days before watergate?

something very close to this:

''this country is going to swing so far to the right, you won't even recognize it anymore"

i'll bet even that rancid old crook would be surprised at just HOW far wrong his version of the fourth reich has turned

[red dog 1]

42. K&R

[Snotcicles]

46. I bet Kris Kobach turns up in the mix. Where has he been hiding lately? nt

[Honeycombe8]

47. OMG. You're right. I hadn't thought of that. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

50. Not sure if they cross-linked the data or simply approached one at a time

I had a lengthy chat with someone in September. I was told at the end of the conversation
something like: "Of course, one candidate has been severely ill-treated by the media, and
that candidate would be Donald Trump."

I said no, exactly the opposite. That was the end of the conversation.

[zentrum]

56. Just as concerning

....is my fear that our own government is pre-emptively surrounding us in yet another way.

With Bannon in charge it won't be long before they target our political history and activities to harass, arrest, or otherwise target us. Just delaying us at airports can be a major hassle.

One thing these fascists have is long term strategy chops---they get all their ducks lined up---whether it's through voter suppression, or taking over school boards or FOX news lies---and then they moved in and we find suddenly that all the usual avenues of escape or redress no longer exist.

[Baitball Blogger]

58. If Trump gets removed/impeached before the end of his term, Bannon will lose whatever clout he has.

[ecstatic]

57. Well when they mine me, they'll know not to waste their time. I'm

not one of the dumbasses they can influence. NOBODY gets blind /unquestioning support from me.