Trump is wrong about catching hackers, cyber security experts explain in 140 characters

Written by Mitnick Security | Dec 12, 2016 12:00:00 AM

On Monday morning, Donald Trump formally addressed the CIA's allegations that Russian hackers tried to interfere in the election on — where else? — Twitter and, as usual, got some basic facts wrong.

First, here's what the president-elect said that many are taking umbrage with.

 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?
8:21 AM - 12 Dec 2016
15,866 Retweets 59,802 likes

Well, first of all, the threat of hacking interfering in the election was brought up before the election. Many times. Including by Trump himself. 

But, more importantly, Trump is very wrong about how hacking actually works so Mashable turned to cyber security experts for their responses to Trump in terms he'll understand: tweets.

Here's what they told us — and Trump — all in tweet-sized bites of 140 characters or less.

 Follow
 Kellyanne Conway ✔ @KellyannePolls
@realDonaldTrump & I working hard tonight. Thank you for the privilege of a lifetime, #PEOTUS.
7:37 PM - 28 Nov 2016
  5,786  Retweets   17,826  likes

Steven Morgan, Cybersecurity Ventures:
Donald, you and Hillary can get trained by the world's most famous hacker and find out how hackers really get caught. Go here:  https://www.knowbe4.com/products/kevin-mitnick-security-awareness-training/

ValiMail CEO Alexander García-Tobar
 Follow
 ValiMail @ValiMail
@realDonaldTrump Majority of hacks start w/ phish & you can catch hackers if you use email auth. Which you didn’t http://bit.ly/2hqqc5r 
1:42 PM - 12 Dec 2016
Photo published for Krebs Gives Trump Campaign, DNC, RNC Failing Security Grade for DMARC
Krebs Gives Trump Campaign, DNC, RNC Failing Security Grade for DMARC
Krebs on Security today published an article describing how the Donald Trump campaign, the DNC, and the RNC all have failed to use email…
 4 4 Retweets   5 5 likes

Justin Fier, Director of Cyber Intelligence and Analysis at Darktrace
"With the right technology, organizations can keep a close eye on their data and spot unusual digital behavior as it unfolds."

Michael Sutton, CISO at Zscaler
 Follow
 Michael Sutton @michaelawsutton
Yes @realDonaldTrump, attribution of hacking is hard…but when democracy is at risk, we have an obligation to leave no stone unturned.
2:27 PM - 12 Dec 2016
  6 6 Retweets   9 9 likes

Kevin Mitnick, Mitnick Security
 Follow
 Kevin Mitnick ✔ @kevinmitnick
[email protected] Not true. You can catch hackers after the act as well. Take it from someone who knows this fact very well.
3:23 PM - 12 Dec 2016
  1,247 1,247 Retweets   2,226 2,226 likes

Daniel Clayton, Director of Customer Security Operations at Rackspace
"Hacks are like criminal cases. Clues are left, ID'd by a trained eye and packaged together with other evidence to create a bigger picture."

"Security investigators can pick up on subtle bread crumbs left by hackers, even their cover up. Piece together enough clues & eliminate doubt."

Source: Mashable