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Martin: Conservatives should be wary of hacking

Souvenirs at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the day after the Democratic National Convention, at Temple University in Philadelphia in July. Computer systems connected to the campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, were hacked in an attack that appears to have come from Russia intelligence services, a federal law enforcement official said.
Souvenirs at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the day after the Democratic National Convention, at Temple University in Philadelphia in July. Computer systems connected to the campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, were hacked in an attack that appears to have come from Russia intelligence services, a federal law enforcement official said. Souvenirs at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the day after the Democratic National Convention, at Temple University in Philadelphia in July. Computer systems connected to the campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, were hacked in an attack that appears to have come from Russia intelligence services, a federal law enforcement official said.

By David Martin 4 min read

photo Columnist David Martin

One way to learn a person’s political affiliation really quick is to throw the following line at them and wait for their response: “Russian computer hackers were heavily involved in this year’s presidential election.”

Someone with Democratic sympathies will likely agree, possibly emphatically, while a Republican sympathizer will probably shrug it off.

Either one, though, could hardly deny the merits of that statement, as numerous reports have emerged over the past few weeks confirming Moscow’s connection to the email hacking that plagued Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Brazile, John Podesta and ultimately Hillary Clinton throughout her campaign.

Quick note: For an an easily digestible account of the hacking, read Thomas Rid’s article “How Russia pulled off the biggest election hack in U.S. history” in this month’s Esquire magazine (yes, I said Esquire).

Did the information learned from those hacks actually tip the scales in November? That’s up for argument. But one thing is for sure, that hacking wasn’t a single-election phenomenon. Chances are we’ll see more of it in the future.