This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube video titled "Evidence of the Russians Hacking the DNC" (posted 2017-01-04). It is an interview segment—likely from Fox News/Hannity—between a host (Speaker A) and cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano of Hotspot Shield (Speaker B). They discuss the DNC email disclosures, Julian Assange's claims, and forensic indicators such as a Russian-language keyboard and how such artifacts can be spoofed via routing and server setup; Siciliano evaluates whether the evidence tying the breach to Russia is conclusive.
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Julian Assange in an exclusive Hannity interview which will air tonight on Fox News Channel. Assange is doubling down, saying again that the Russian government is not the source of the emails released by WikiLeaks. We've got cybersecurity expert with Hotspot Shield, he's Robert Siciliano, and he says that the evidence the Obama administration has is very thin about Russia being the source. Can you explain that, sir?
Sure. Well, one of the identifiers that makes one think that this was a Russian-sourced hack is the evidence of a Russian-language keyboard, among a few other things. But if they are to pinpoint the breach as Russian-based because of a Russian-language keyboard, it's important that everyone looks at the actual fact here that you can install a Russian language keyboard on an iPhone. Anybody can.
I don't understand. Hang on, sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt. Robert, you're making some very important points. I just want the viewer to be clear about what you're saying. At what step in this process did this Russian language keyboard come in?
So within the past, um, 6 months or so, uh, researchers responsible for doing the forensics in regards to the DNC hack, had discovered code and language names, some of it in Russian text, and the fact that there had been a Russian keyboard— Russian language keyboard associated with the computing. That said, the smoking gun supposedly is the fact that they identified a Russian-language keyboard as part of that breach.
Okay, so Julian Assange has been saying that it was a dis— and the word is that it was instead a disgruntled, possibly disgruntled DNC former worker who leaked it. We don't know what the source of the WikiLeaks disclosures is. What is your sense? What caused these disclosures?
So anyone from anywhere in the world can set up servers that are rerouted from China to Russia to the US to Brazil back to Russia to China and so forth. And they can use any keyboard, in this case a Russian language keyboard, to make it look like it's coming from, specifically from Russia, along with other identifiers like names that are Russian-based, in this particular scenario a name from a Russian that is known to support other causes revolving around hacking and breaches and such. And they can take this circumstantial evidence and make it look like it's essentially coming from a Russian hack, that maybe even from state operatives.
What do you think happened?
Well, this, you know, it's certainly possible. And as they say, where there is smoke, there is fire, right? We don't want to believe that we are being hacked by the Russian government, but there are so many other situations that have occurred in the past decade that point to state hackers out of Russia. It's very possible.
All right. Robert Siciliano, thank you for your expertise. Really grateful that you came on the show.
