GuCcifer
Marcel
Lazăr Lehel, oka, Guccifer, is a Romanian hacker. That we know.
What the general public might be interested in is that he spent only
part of his time time hacking the Western Defense Alliance computer
network systems, for ideological reasons.
Guccifer
has never worked for the Kremlin however, Kremlin penetration
(ФСБ) of hacking networks in the West is
unparallelled – even by NSA standards (!)
To
put it in a nutshell and easy to understand language, the Russian
government would prefer if Donald Trump is elected as the next
President of The United States and have been working covertly to
subvert the Clinton campaign for the Office of Presidency of The
United States.
Playing
off Bernie Sanders against Hillary Clinton is simply part of the same
campaign in the Russian media – in particular 'Russia Today'
Television Network – which is the heart of FSB propaganda.
Lehel
was portrayed by the Russian media as a 'champion' of good causes –
such as anti-George Bush, anti-The Iraq War, reputedly hacking the
Pentagon's computer system and passing its details to unknown
recipients.
What
is not fully appreciated is the damage done to his victims through
the unauthorized release of medical records, bank information,
compromising data and photographs which he obtained through illegal
hacking both military and civilian computers and systems.
We
will never know the full extent of the damage to U.S. National and
Western Europe security.
Plea
Bargain
After
extensive 'discussions' and appreciating that he was facing close to
999 years behind bars with only the prospect of a reduced sentence
to, at the very least, 500 years, Lehel finally revealed the full
extent of his operations and recipients for the mass data he
accumulated, in exchange for leniency.
On
25th May, 2016, he entered a plea bargain with the DoJ.
(A
copy of this is online at the site below.)
Marcel
Lazăr Lehel is due for sentencing on September 1, 2016.
A
recent plea deal with the DoJ means that he will serve a little time
(in actual fact weeks to a few months -if even that) probably in a
'low security ' prison.
What
Is Not Known
It
was thanks to Lehel that a number of successful international
operations were carried out by the FBI, worldwide.
As
I understand it, the operations are ongoing – which is why their
details have yet to appear in the general media.
(I
await reading them with interest in the Washington Post or NYT !)
What
you read in the attached plea document [Case
1:14-cr-00213-JCC Document 28 Filed 05/25/16] is
what has been released for public consumption.
Guccifer II (The Kremlin At Work)
I
don't want to dwell too much on Guccifer only to say that a 'Guccifer
II' (most likely the Kremlin) deliberately hacked Senator Hillary
Clinton's personal server in an attempt to give Donald Trump 'the
edge' in what some believe, could be a close Presidential race.
Guccifers'
Rule OK!
What
is more interesting is how world power foreign governments now
attempt to influence the course of local elections not just in Europe
but also in the developing world through hacking into systems and
computers, obtaining confidential information, compromising
photographs and other information, then leaking this (anonymously) to
local (and international) media for political and ideological
reasons.
A
whole new secret intelligence industry ('Security Consultants') has
been built around data access through hacking systems by not just the
global superpowers but any country, any individual,indeed any
child(!) with the knowledge and capability to access the net (and
intranets.)
Computer
Engineering? What's That?
When
one of 'the kids' said that he was studying engineering and robotics
several years ago, I was terrified for his future: a life without
work, jobless forever! Little did I have to worry. He was further
ahead of 'the game' than I could ever possibly have imagined.
The
Goose Which Lays The Golden Egg
So
too is the extensive treasure trove provided to the FBI by Guccifer –
and which, as I understand, give a remarkable insight not just into
the science of hacking, but within the data itself, as I imagine, is
so much to glean about, for example, the sexual proclivities of the
rich, powerful and famous, never hitherto encountered.
The
Right To Know
Some
of you will be quite disgusted and contemptuous of what I have just
said – but don't you think we have a right to know if our 'pious'
pillars of the community (politicians, spiritual and other leaders of
societies) ain't (are not) so pious as they make themselves out to
be? (Remember Pope Innocent IV and Innocent VIII were not as
'innocent' as depicted for mass consumption by the Catholic Church –
until fairly recently.)
Don't
we also have a right to know who sleeps with who inside the Kremlin
and other regions of the Federation?; or who has 'penchants' for
this, that or the other?
(Different
'prominent' hackers have different 'genres' of data within their
'portfolios'.)
Guccifer
also had the some of the 'low down' on the 'high life' -and he just
did it 'for kicks'(!)
You
see, Guccifer was playing both ends off against the middle and
accumulating his own private database 'as keepsake' (or saving it,
'for a rainy day'.)
A
Walk On The Wild Side
Very
little has been publicly revealed about Guccifer's enormous
contribution
to the West's understanding of both the hacking underground and
extensive nature of The Russian Federation's penetration of the
hacking community worldwide.
Hopefully
he will, after release, stay on in the United States (where his
safety is guaranteed) rather than return to Romania.
Unlike
Edward Snowden it is unlikely that he will ever receive a military
rank nor medal for espionage services rendered (see my earlier blog
about Edward Snowden) - but at least his remarkable skills will be
available to work for the other side.
©Patrick
Emek, June 2016
