Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear: did Russians hack Democratic party and if so, why?

In April of last year, at 10pm on a Wednesday, French network TV5Monde suddenly began to broadcast Islamic State logos and slogans in French, Arabic and English. Simultaneously the broadcaster’s Facebook page began to post inflammatory messages. “Soldiers of France, stay away from the Islamic State!” read one. “You have the chance to save your families, take advantage of it.”

“Je suIS IS,” read another.

But the second message was a lie.

According to security researchers, the culprit was a Russian hacking team long believed by cybersecurity analysts in and outside the US government to be working for the country’s largest intelligence agency, GRU. Fascinated researchers have given it a variety of names: APT 28, Strontium, the Sofacy Group, and Fancy Bear.

Last week, WikiLeaks distributed 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) obtained after Fancy Bear and another hacking team believed to be tied to a competing Russian intelligence service, known as Cozy Bear, breached the DNC’s internal network. Cozy Bear is believed to have entered the network a year before and waited quietly, gathering information and cataloging emails. Fancy Bear came later. WikiLeaks’ consistent position is not to discuss its source and to push back against suggestions that it gained the data from either Bear.

Russia has motive, capability and form for U.S. email hack

The Kremlin says it had zero involvement in the hacking of Democratic Party emails while U.S. officials say the hack originated in Russia. We may never know who is right, but one thing is for sure – Russia had motive, capability and form.Seen through Kremlin eyes, Moscow would only be doing what it feels the United States has been doing to it for years anyway – interfering in a geopolitical rival’s domestic politics in an attempt to destabilize and shape events.President Vladimir Putin said in February he had seen specific intelligence suggesting Russia’s foreign enemies – code for Washington – were preparing to meddle in Russian parliamentary elections later this year.And in 2011, Putin accused the U.S. State Department and Hillary Clinton, its then head, of stirring up street protests against his rule.”We need to head off any external attempts to interfere in the elections, in our domestic political life,” Putin, who is facing re-election in 2018, told officers from Russia’s FSB security service in February.

Apple Hires BlackBerry Talent With Car Project Turning to Self-Driving Software

Apple Inc. has hired the former head of BlackBerry Ltd.’s automotive software division as new leadership at the iPhone-maker’s car team places increased emphasis on developing self-driving technology, according to people familiar with the project.Dan Dodge, the founder and former chief executive officer of QNX, the operating system developer that BlackBerry acquired in 2010, joined Apple earlier this year, the people said. He is part of a team headed by Bob Mansfield, who, since taking over leadership of the cars initiative — dubbed Project Titan — has heralded a shift in strategy, according to a person familiar with the plan. The initiative is now prioritizing the development of an autonomous driving system, though it’s not abandoning efforts to design its own vehicle. That leaves options open should the company eventually decide to partner with or acquire an established car maker, rather than build a car itself. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.