U.S. Suspects Russian Hacking Led to Qatar Crisis

**JohnDoe2** · 06-06-2017, 10:16 PM

Report: U.S. Suspects Russian Hacking Led to Qatar Crisis

American investigators examining possibility that Russian hackers planted fake news stories that resulted in Gulf states' diplomatic entanglement

Haaretz and Reuters Jun 07, 2017 4:16 AM

American investigators suspect that the Qatari state news agency was breached by Russian hackers who then proceeded to plant a fake news story that led to the breaking of ties between the Gulf state and its neighbors, CNN reported early on Wednesday.

According to CNN, FBI investigators were in Qatar to help the government there probe the incident.

Monday's bombshell came amid reports saying Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, objected to Washington's and the Gulf states' hostility toward Iran, which he considered “a great state that contributes to regional stability.” He also allegedly said that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood weren't terrorist organizations but rather resistance movements.

Qatar denied that the emir made that statement and claimed that hackers broke into the Qatari news agency's website and planted those quotes. Qatari spokesmen had earlier said it was a conspiracy between the UAE and a pro-Israel lobby working in Washington.

The CIA and the FBI refused to comment on the CNN story.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in a coordinated move on Monday, accusing the tiny Gulf state of supporting terrorism. On Tuesday, Jordan announced that it will downgrade its diplomatic representation with Qatar.

The United States is communicating with all the parties in the Middle East "to resolve issues and restore cooperation" after several countries moved to break diplomatic ties with Qatar, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump praised Middle East countries' actions against the American ally.

Russia is meanwhile also suspected of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. On Monday, The Intercept quoted a top-secret National Security Agency report as saying that Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on a U.S. voting software supplier and sent malware to over 100 local government officials in the days before the 2016 U.S. elections

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.794192

**JohnDoe2** · 06-07-2017, 08:14 PM

Wed Jun 7, 2017 | 7:56pm EDT

Qatar investigation finds state news agency hacked: foreign ministry

FILE PHOTO: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attends the 25th Arab Summit in Kuwait City, March 25, 2014. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

By Noah Browning | DUBAI

A preliminary investigation has confirmed that Qatar's state news agency was hacked, and false statements attributed to the country's ruler were posted that helped ignite a rift with other Gulf states, the Qatari foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and several other countries cut their ties with Doha on Monday in part because of comments posted briefly on the Qatar News Agency's website on May 23.

The article quoted Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as cautioning against confrontation with Iran, as well as defending the Palestinian group Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shi'ite movement allied with Tehran.

"The Ministry said the investigation team confirmed that the piracy process had used high techniques and innovative methods by exploiting an electronic gap on the website of the Qatar News Agency," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It did not say who might have carried out the hack.

U.S. and European officials said that while United States government agencies and experts were convinced that the news agency and the Qatari government's Twitter feed were hacked, they have not yet determined who did the hacking.

A CNN report quoted unidentified U.S. officials briefed on the investigation as saying that Russian hackers were suspected. Moscow said the report was false.

One U.S. intelligence official said that while Russia has the expertise and an incentive to sow division among Arab states allied with the United States, Russian hackers were available for hire to other countries and criminal groups.

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U.S. military officials, also speaking anonymously to discuss political issues, said the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar is vital to American air support against Iranian paramilitaries and Iranian-backed forces on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

Qatar's foreign ministry thanked the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the British National Crime Agency for cooperating in the investigation, without elaborating.

(Reporting by Noah Browning in Dubai; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gu...KBN18Y2X4?il=0

**Judy** · 06-07-2017, 10:45 PM

Please explain to me why the FBI is involved in this? We can't get the FBI to investigate our leakers or the murder of Seth Rich, but they've got time to fly off to Qatar and take care of their website boo boos?? The FBI can't even find the person who hacked into the DNC in DC, but they can determine who hacked into Qatar's news site??!!

How stupid do they think we are?!!!

FBI .... straighten up. You are off the rails.

**JohnDoe2** · 06-08-2017, 04:31 PM

As Gulf tensions flare, reports of hacking pour in

ABC News

- ‎51 minutes ago‎

As tensions flare between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran and their allies, reports of hacking are emerging across the Gulf. The Qatar-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera said Thursday that it was being buffeted by increasingly serious electronic ...

Al Jazeera Media Network Battling Cyber Attack

Fortune

- ‎2 minutes ago‎

Al-Jazeera is Actively Combating a Cyber Attack

Paste Magazine

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Voice of America

- ‎23 minutes ago‎

Al-Jazeera hit by cyberattack, hacking attempts "across all systems"

CBS News

- ‎25 minutes ago‎

Al-Jazeera media network hit by massive cyberattack 'on all systems'