Western propaganda

Jimmy Dore makes a good point about this Russia ambassador.

^ I was going to make one of these myself. Its so ridiculous. Why is it blurry ?

Looks like there's a propaganda push to subvert Russia China relations. That's what it looks like to me but I guess we'll see.


Top Russian Submarine Design Bureau Hit By Cyber Attack With Chinese Characteristics

Russia's Rubin Design Bureau was the target of a cyber attack involving an image file with malicious software embedded inside it via a specific tool that has become a hallmark of multiple entities linked to the Chinese government. The file could have been used to create a backdoor into the networks at Rubin, a prolific designer of submarines and other underwater platforms. Its portfolio includes the ultra-quiet Borei class ballistic missile submarine, the unique Belgorod and Losharik special missions submarines, and the Poseidon nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ultra-long-range 'doomsday' torpedo, among other work.

Cybersecurity firm Cybereason first reported on the attack on April 30, 2021, but it's unclear when it was actually carried out. Metadata that the company provided along with its analysis says that the Rich Text Format (RTF) image in question was created in 2007, but the report says that this is almost certainly false and meant to help obfuscate its origins. Other portions of the metadata indicate that it was first accessed earlier in April, but that may just be when Cybereason first opened it up to assess it. It's also not clear if the attack was successful in any way.

"The initial infection vector is a spear-phishing email addressed to the “respectful general director Igor Vladimirovich [Vilnit]” at the Rubin Design Bureau, a submarine design center from the 'Gidropribor' concern in St. Petersburg, a national research center that designs underwater weapons like submarines," Cybereason's report says. "The email attachment is a malicious RTF document weaponized with a RoyalRoad payload, with content describing a general view of an autonomous underwater vehicle."

Full article
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40531/top-russian-submarine-design-bureau-hit-by-cyber-attack-with-chinese-characteristics

Cyberreason is making the claim.

Cybereason is a cybersecurity technology company founded in 2012. It is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional office locations in London, UK, Tokyo, Japan, and Tel Aviv, Israel.

In July 2012, Cybereason was founded and incorporated in Delaware, United States by Lior Div, an ex-soldier of Israel's Unit 8200.[1]

More on that alleged pipeline cyber attack. They are really upping the ante here. No blame assigned so far but when it comes, watch out.

Update (1828ET): The White House published a fact sheet on its response to the Colonial Pipeline hack:

The recent cyberattack targeting the Colonial Pipeline has triggered a comprehensive federal response focused on securing critical energy supply chains. President Biden is receiving regular briefings on the incident and has directed agencies across the Federal Government to bring their resources to bear to help alleviate shortages where they are occurring. The Administration is focused on avoiding potential energy supply disruptions to impacted communities, the U.S. military, and other facilities reliant on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products. The Administration is continually assessing the pipeline shutdown's impact on the U.S. fuel supply, as well as what additional actions are available to mitigate the impact of the pipeline's shutdown.

... read the rest here.

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Update (1452ET): Emergency declarations have been issued in 17 states and Washington, DC due to fuel shortages stemming from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

The emergency declaration covers Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.