Britain, Russia and Democracy

I can’t say I was more than slightly surprised by the recent publicity around the Commons Security  Committee report. Perhaps the only mildly surprising thing was that so little attention has been paid in the past to Russian interference and propaganda. How Putin must chuckle at the lack of British response when his murder teams attack in the UK. The Litvinenko killing was particularly poignant as the man lay dying knowing, killed by Russian agents, his death was inevitable after poisoning with Polonium. He had ingested the stuff which slowly over days would kill him. Having ingested it there was nothing to be done.

As regards the lack of investigation into the Brexit referendum there is no mystery. Johnson knows very well, as did Theresa May, that a fraudulent referendum could hardly become much more fraudulent if Russian manipulators were at work. Still it would be embarrassing  Any investigation would suffice to bring Johnson’s wrath down on any security service daring to ivestigate. Since he believes the BBC is biased; he lives in a world of paranoia. It certainly was very much in Russian interests that the Brexiteers won as they figure any damage to the west is worthwhile. Apparently his anti BBC propaganda is having an effect in BBC self censorship if nowhere else

Interference in the Scottish referendum is also unsurprising. Clearly Scottish independence is very much in Russian interests but then Johnson is making the case stronger now than ever it was six years ago..

Interference in the US Presidential election was far larger ( or certainly investigated further ). Trump is the Manchurian candidate and he must have Putin chortling with glee. In a sense British elections reliant on pencil and paper are less at risk than online counts. The nonchalance about hacking is frightening but shared by business and individuals.

Anyone who takes the slightest interest in modern computing and internet usage ought to realise by now that the scale of online hacking is immense. I must admit that for myself the realisation has been slow coming. Simple things like changing default passwords I manage although it is too much hassle for many. Awareness has come slowly. At my last job my boss was wonderful at sniffing out scams. After nearly falling for some at that time I’ve learned to be very cautious.

I should have learned from simple frauds long before the internet age. It was probably the early 70’s when I had a visit from two burly ex policemen. They enquired about the small boat I had bought on hire purchase and then neglected payments. The fraudulent buyer had a worrying amount of detail about me although I was rather insulted that he described himself( ie. Me)  as a technician. I managed to persuade them it wasn’t me although not without a bit of difficulty and embarrassment. This was all long before the expression “identity theft” entered the language. This experience did serve me well when another investigator contacted me about a car I had supposedly bought.

As have most computer users I have learned to be careful. I have suffered from a virus attack and it was very irritating although apparently a hackers “joke”. Some more serious scams I have spotted. In one recent case not involving computers I’m still puzzled what the motive was. I was approached by a ( supposed ) legal firm in New York looking to buy a small quantity of shares I had inherited from my mother in S&U. They were fraudsters but as they were planning to pay me money,  more than their worth, what was the motive? I guess it didn’t evolve far enough for the real motive to be apparent.

I’m similarly slightly baffled by the Russian attempted hacking of Covid vaccine research. I can only suppose the intent was to copy but since the intention is to make vaccines ( if successful ) widely available what is the point. Prestige seems the only possibility but hardly likely with a copy I would have thought.

Russia as a state seems none too stable. Putin as an ex Cold Warrior ( ex KGB now FSB ) is doing his best to return to Cold War attitudes. He regards the freedom of former Soviet satellites as a tragedy and the faltering democracy in Ukraine as a big threat. He has surrounded himself with cronies whose wealth he makes very sure is reliant on himself. He plays the Russian nationalist card at every opportunity. It interesting that the most power hungry and unscrupulous politicians talk most about patriotism- Trump is the same.

What’s to be done. On the individual level be suspicious and cautious. I’m less than happy at being forced to use “cloud” storage. Beware fake news as in the RT TV channel. As far as Russia is concerned ( and this goes for China also ) trade but don’t be naïve. The German natural gas deal with Russia  with a monopoly pipeline is simply stupid and putting a hostage in Russian hands. Under their present leadership these countries want to enslave us.. Computer security must be taken far more seriously. The monster losses of data suffered by businesses are extremely worrying. The recent stiff rise in penalties for data losses may help to ensure proper security.

I am pleased that online banks have moved to “two factor” security with codes sent to mobile phones. Even with all this I recently wasted half a day altering all my personal information and passwords after an attempted scam. I suppose my attitude that the time was wasted reflects the common attitude that increasing security is a bore and I need to stop thinking like that. Internet convenience and speed should more than compensate.