Top cyber security team finds no evidence of Trump-Russia chatter on Alfa Bank server
A cyber security report debunks the accusation that the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin were communicating secretly via Alfa Bank servers
By
A report released Friday by top cyber-security experts concludes, as did Special Counsel Robert Mueller, that the 2016 Trump presidential campaign did not secretly communicate with the Russian government via a computer server belonging to Russia’s Alfa Bank.
In the report by the cyber consulting firm Ankura, cyber experts determined that the communication from Alfa Bank to servers on the U.S. East Coast were going to a company that runs marketing activities for several global hotel chains, including, for a number of years, the Trump Hotels – not servers owned or operated by the Trump campaign.
Mueller, when asked during a hearing in the summer of 2019 about allegations that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were exchanging covert communications via the Alfa Bank server, said, “I believe it’s not true.”
THE FACTS INSIDE OUR REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
On October 11, 2016, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec. (Pictured)
Following his visit, Kavalec sent information that she received from Steele to the FBI, including details about the suspected communications via the Alfa Bank server.
At the time, investigators were trying to determine unexplained Domain Name System (DNS) pings between one of the bank’s servers and a server used by the Trump organization’s marketing agency on the East Coast. Domain Name Systems are the systems by which internet domain names and addresses are tracked and regulated – in this case, they were used to determine communication patterns between the servers.
After an assessment by Ankura’s Cyber Threat Analysis and Pursuit Team (CTAPT) of possible DNS activity between the Trump organization, the marketing agency servers, and the Alfa Bank servers, the cyber experts found “no evidence that mail1.trump-email.com and trump1.contact-client.com were used by Alfa-Bank and the Trump organization for covert communications.”
The Ankura team did, however, find evidence that suggests so-called “threat actors” conjured the appearance of a connection between the Trump servers and Alfa Bank servers by creating false Domain Name System activity (DNS). If this is true, it “would constitute a potential violation of various U.S. laws,” says the report.
The FBI determined in February of 2017 that there were no links between the Trump organization and Alfa Bank. However, the narrative persists in some mainstream media reports.
What remains unclear is whether there were, in fact, bad actors who created false DNS activity to continue feeding the Russia collusion narrative — and, if they exist, who are they?
The exact role Christopher Steele played also remains a mystery. Did he know to look out for suspicious DNS activity to report to Kavalec? Or was the information handed to him by someone else?
*********
(TLB) published this article with permission of John Solomon at Just the News
Some emphasis and pictorial content added by (TLB)
About Just the News
It’s mission can be succinctly summarized by three brand statements:
-
Honest Journalism, Trusted Reporters
-
Information Without Indoctrination
-
Rising Above Rhetoric
Read more…
Click Here to read about the staff at Just the News
••••
••••
Stay tuned to …
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply