Earlier today I managed to fall down one my proverbial “Rabbit Holes” before stumbling onto some interesting information – if you are into that sort of thing, that is 🤓. I managed to stumble upon it after conducting research into a hack of Russia’s Internet Research Agency at the hands of US Cyber Command last year, news of which was first released to the public yesterday, February 26th 2019. According to reports, the attack was launched in retaliation for something referred to as “Project Lahkta,” a Russian influence campaign designed to interfere with US democracy during the 2018 Mid-Term Elections. Essentially, US CyberCommand took down the Internet Research Agency before they could launch any sort of preemptive attack compromising the November elections or the dialogue surrounding it.

Read More About Project Lahkta from US Department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1102316/download

As the news goes, US CyberCommand allegedly took down the entire network belonging to Russia’s Internet Research Agency – though the specifics into or behind the attack remain unknown. However, what I found interesting is the fact that US Government officials are now going out their way to explain how their actions fell within the acceptable parameters of “Cyber Warfare” as they are outlined in various treaties around the world. Unaware that such things even existed, I then began researching said laws/treaties. What I managed to find were two manuals produced for all the member states belonging to the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), entitled “Tallinn On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Warfare” and “Tallinn Manual 2.0 On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Operations.”

302 Pages – Full Tallinn On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Warfare:https://www.peacepalacelibrary.nl/ebooks/files/356296245.pdf

30 Page – Tallinn Manual 2.0 On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Operations: http://assets.cambridge.org/97811071/77222/frontmatter/9781107177222_frontmatter.pdf

What makes this news particularly interesting is the fact that the United States Government is out in front of this issue, blatantly calling last years attacks on Russian network infrastructure an act of War. Just let that soak in for a moment, US CyberCommand has literally/publicly just declared War on Russia – at least within cyber space. That’s certainly a noteworthy development – don’t you think? Interestingly enough, the US’s attack occurred just before Russia’s State Duma came out with a series of new proposals aiming to disconnect Russia from the world-wide web, or at least create a backup system of network infrastructure similar to it inside Russia. For the purposes of this article, I have no other reason than to believe that Duma’s announcements in December 2018 were spurned by US military actions in November 2018.

Read More – State Duma’s Plan for Creating Internet Sovereignty (2/20/2019): https://roguemedialabs.wpcomstaging.com/2019/02/21/moscow-introduces-new-legislation-designed-to-create-a-sovereign-internet-inside-russian-borders/

Read More – State Duma’s Plan To Create Backup To Worldwide Web (12/14/2018): https://roguemedialabs.wpcomstaging.com/2018/12/16/russia-aims-to-create-backup-to-the-world-wide-web-create-its-own-national-internet-infrastructure/

All being fair however, it was Russia whom first declared War on us – wasn’t it? I say this because you might remember a motion filed in a New York State court room on November 9th 2018, in which the Kremlin asked for the immunity of 9 Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) agents believed to have been behind the hacks and leaks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton throughout the course of 2015-2016? According to the official motion linked below, Russia demanded the immunity of its agents on the grounds that the hack of Clinton and DNC was ordered as the direct result of a military operation. As such, international military operations are granted immunity in courts worldwide – including here in the US.

Read More – Russian Federation Files Motion Requesting DNC/Clinton Hacking Lawsuits Be Thrown Out of Court: https://roguemedialabs.wpcomstaging.com/2018/11/19/russian-federation-files-motion-requesting-dnc-clinton-hacking-lawsuits-be-thrown-out-of-court/

However, Russia’s motion in November 2018 was essentially the first time the Kremlin had admitted to directly interfering in/with the US Presidential election – at least publicly. Moreover, considering that the Kremlin itself is now claiming that the hack of Clinton and DNC were military operations, this means that the Kremlin has de facto declared Cyber War on the United States dating as far back as at least 2015. This means that whether anyone likes to admit it or not, the United States and Russia are quite literally at War with one another at the present moment in time. February 2019 just happens to mark the first time in history both sides are publicly admitting as such. Make no mistake, this is literally history in the making….. to be continued.

Tallinn On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Warfare:

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Tallinn Manual 2.0 On The International Law Applicable To Cyber Operations:

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Russia’s 2018 “Operation Lahkta”:

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Russian Federations Motion To Dismiss Charges Under Military Immunity:

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