The Plot to Hack America
OCLC 987592653 | | |
Preceded by | Defeating ISIS | |
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Followed by | Hacking ISIS | |
Website | Official website | |
[1][2] |
Trump–Russia relations |
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The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election is a non-fiction book by
Nance described the
Summary
The book is dedicated to U.S. Army officer
Nance discusses
In "Trump's Agents, Putin's Assets", Nance delves further into
"Battles of the CYBER BEARS" describes the two hacker entities tied to Russian intelligence:
Finally, in "Cyberwar to Defend Democracy", Nance reiterates that the U.S. was the target of cyberwarfare by Russian intelligence agencies GRU and FSB, as directly ordered by Putin. Nance writes that Russia succeeded in casting doubt of citizens in the strength of U.S. democracy. He posits that, were the U.S. populace at large to internalize future acts of cyberwarfare as dangerous attempts to subvert daily life, they could lead to actual war itself.[1][4]
Composition and publication
Before beginning research for The Plot to Hack America, Nance gained
Prior to analyzing the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, Nance's background in counter-intelligence analysis included management of a
Nance began work on The Plot to Hack America incidentally, while already engaged in writing Hacking ISIS. During the course of research for Hacking ISIS, he discovered computer hacking of Germany's legislative body, the Bundestag, and French television station TV5Monde. At the time, the hacks were thought to be caused by ISIS, but instead they were traced back to Russian hacking group, the Cyber Bears. Nance knew this was a Russian intelligence GRU operated group, and realized the attribution to ISIS was a false flag operation to throw investigators off the trail. This gave Nance prior knowledge of Russian intelligence tactics, through the Cyber Bears, to infiltrate servers for purposes of disrupting government in the case of Germany, and injecting propaganda in the case of France. After the 2016 hack on the DNC, it was apparent to Nance that the identical foreign agency had carried out the attack, GRU. Nance's suspicions were borne out as accurate when security firm CrowdStrike determined Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear were behind the attack. Nance saw this as akin to the Watergate scandal, albeit a virtual attack instead of a physical break-in to Democratic facilities.[2]
Nance told C-SPAN that for the majority of his working life he has identified as a member of the U.S. Republican Party, describing himself as being from the "Colin Powell School of Republicanism", and The Plot to Hack America was written out of a desire as an intelligence expert to document the background behind the attack by a foreign power on U.S. democratic institutions. Nance realized the gravity of the attack because he considered that such an operation must have been sanctioned and managed by former KGB officer Vladimir Putin himself. Nance is a member of the board of directors for the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. Through this work at the museum, Nance befriended former KGB general Oleg Kalugin, who advised him "once KGB always KGB". Nance considered that Putin's objectives would not have been simply to harm Hillary Clinton but actually to attempt to achieve the ascendancy of Donald Trump to U.S. president.[2]
The Plot to Hack America was first published in an online format on September 23, 2016, the same day
Reception
The book was a commercial success, and The Wall Street Journal placed The Plot to Hack America in its list of "Best-Selling Books" for the week of February 19, 2017, at 7th place in the category "NonFiction E-Books".[5] The book was included for reading in a course on political science at Pasadena City College.[27] In a review for the New York Journal of Books, Michael Lipkin was effusive, writing: "Malcolm Nance's The Plot to Hack America is an essential primer for anyone wanting to be fully informed about the unprecedented events surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election."[1] Lipkin wrote of the author's expertise on the subject matter: "He is a patriot and a highly experienced and respected intelligence expert bringing to bear his own deep and extensive knowledge and conclusions in perhaps one of the most important developments in American history."[1] Lawrence Swaim gave Nance's work a favorable reception, in a book review for the Napa Valley Register.[6] He wrote, "It's a quick read, and at present easily the best book on the subject."[6] Swaim recommended resources at the back of the book, writing, "But what's really killer about the Nance book is the appendix, which contains extremely revealing assessments made by American intelligence agencies, all presented in an unclassified format."[6]
Kenneth J. Bernstein wrote for Daily Kos "to convince you to read this important book", he echoed the warning in its conclusion about the dangers posed by cyberwarfare.[28] Bernstein wrote that the book's argumentation was strengthened because, "Every single assertion Nance offers is backed by material ... clearly documented in end notes".[28] Bernstein wrote favorably in addition of the book's foreword by The Guardian editor for national security, Spencer Ackerman.[28] Italian language newspaper La Stampa called the book "molto bello".[29] Writing for The Independent, Andy Martin, commented, "I suppose the only weak spot in the subtitle is the word 'tried'. Surely they did more than 'try'?"[30]
Aftermath
After The Plot to Hack America was published in October 2016, Nance was interviewed in April 2017 on
The author recalled to C-SPAN the days of the
Nance placed utilization of propaganda by Russian intelligence agencies through Russia Today and other outlets including social media as part of a larger effort at global cyberwarfare. He characterized this a form of hybrid warfare blending traditional propaganda with computer tools and subversion of media organizations. As a case study he cited Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian neofascist political activist with views favored by Putin, whose tweets expound perspectives that U.S democratic institutions were not successful.[2]
See also
- The Case for Impeachment
- Dezinformatsia: Active Measures in Soviet Strategy
- Disinformation
- Steele dossier
- The KGB and Soviet Disinformation
- Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016–election day)
- Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lipkin, Michael (October 10, 2016), "The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election", New York Journal of Books, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lamb, Brian (April 28, 2017), "Q&A with Malcolm Nance", C-SPAN (video), retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ a b Devega, Chauncey (March 14, 2017), "Intelligence expert Malcolm Nance on Trump scandal: 'As close to Benedict Arnold as we're ever going to get'", Salon, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ ISBN 978-1510723320
- ^ a b "Wall Street Journals Best-Selling Books Week Ended February 19th.", Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, February 24, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f Swaim, Lawrence (August 1, 2017), "Russia-gate in the Age of Cyberwar", Napa Valley Register, retrieved August 4, 2017,
Malcolm Nance's fascinating book 'The Plot to Hack America—How Putin's Cyberspies and Wikileaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election.' It's a quick read, and at present easily the best book on the subject.
- ^ The Huffington Post, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ a b Stein, Jeff (October 9, 2016), "Spytalk: In Russian hacks of Democrats, a ghost of the Soviet past", Newsweek, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ a b Bisley, Alexander (April 27, 2017), "Q&A: Malcolm Nance on U.S. security and ISIS, a future 'ghost caliphate'", Maclean's, retrieved June 8, 2017
- ^ Wolcott, James (March 21, 2017), "5 essential Twitter feeds for keeping up with Trump and Russia", Vanity Fair, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (May 21, 2017), "Barbara Lee brings John Dean, Malcolm Nance to town hall meeting", San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ Concha, Joe (February 18, 2017), "Maher: Russian election influence is worst political scandal in US history", The Hill, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ a b Jones, Layla A. (March 10, 2017), "Philly native is media expert on intelligence", The Philadelphia Tribune, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ Donahue, Joe (January 5, 2017), "Counterterrorism Expert Malcolm Nance", WAMC, archived from the original on May 29, 2017, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ WBUR, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ISBN 978-0312592493
- ISBN 978-1466554573
- ISBN 978-1498706896
- ISBN 978-1510711846
- ISBN 978-1510718920
- OCLC 987592653
- OCLC 986800434
- OCLC 974374908
- ^ Reid, Calvin (June 23, 2017), "The Line Between Speech and Censorship at Bookstores", Publishers Weekly, retrieved June 27, 2017
- ^ Anderson, Suzanne, "Bibliography Spring 2017", Political Science 1 – Intro to American Government, Pasadena City College, archived from the original on June 8, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017
- ^ a b c Bernstein, Kenneth J. (May 21, 2017), "A look at 'The Plot to Hack America' by Malcolm Nance", Daily Kos, retrieved June 8, 2017
- ^ "Il mistero dell'account twitter di Trump, cresciuto di cinque milioni di follower in meno di tre giorni", La Stampa (in Italian), May 30, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017,
un libro molto bello, The Plot to Hack America
- ^ Martin, Andy (July 14, 2017), "As Donald Trump Jr's story begins to unravel, are we witnessing a very modern conspiracy – or a very old one?", The Independent, archived from the original on 2022-06-18, retrieved July 17, 2017
- Strategic Finance, vol. 98, no. 7, pp. 55–56
- ^ a b Adams, Michael (January 5, 2017), "Election 2016: Did the Russians hack America?", TechGenix, retrieved June 7, 2017
- ^ Saine, Cindy (October 13, 2016), "Intelligence Analyst: Russian Cyberattacks Could Roil Us Elections", State News Service, Voice of America
External links
- Official website
- Smiley, Tavis (May 4, 2017), U.S. Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Expert Malcolm Nance, archived from the original on June 12, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017
- Lamb, Brian (April 28, 2017), "Q&A with Malcolm Nance", C-SPAN (video), retrieved June 7, 2017
- Chartock, Alan (27 April 2017), "Counter-Terrorism Expert And Author Malcolm Nance", WAMC, retrieved June 8, 2017
- Lopate, Leonard (December 19, 2016), "WikiLeaks, Cyber Bears and Hacking in the 2016 Election", WNYC, retrieved June 8, 2017
- Moss-Coane, Marty (November 16, 2016), "Russia, hackers, and the election of Donald Trump", WHYY-FM, archived from the original on May 3, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017
- Hobson, Jeremy (October 12, 2016), "How Hackable Is The Election?", Here and Now, WBUR, retrieved June 7, 2017