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New: A U.S. official tells me one of the reasons DOD/Cyber Command recently started publishing silly cartoonish graphics depicting foreign govt hackers is to try to embarrass or infuriate Russian & Chinese hacking shops. The inside story w @CyberScoopNews https://www.cyberscoop.com/pentagon-cyber-command-trolling-russian-chinese-hackers-cartoons/
“Russia hates to be seen as cuddly or cozy so we want to tick them off,” said official, who was not authorized to speak with the press. That's how Cyber Command and the graphics company they work with came up with this: https://twitter.com/CNMF_CyberAlert/status/1321863548486770689
Art typically used to portray Russian hackers is a variation on a burly/ferocious bear, but Cybercom wanted to diminish, not ego-boost:
“We don’t want something they can put on T-shirts. We want something that’s in a PowerPoint their boss sees and he loses his shit on them.”
“We don’t want something they can put on T-shirts. We want something that’s in a PowerPoint their boss sees and he loses his shit on them.”
When Cybercom asked the graphics firm to illo hackers with suspected ties to the Chinese govt, the first draft was "too cool" the official said, so they had to keep trying until they landed on an image mocking enough on China (unclear what was "too cool") https://www.cyberscoop.com/chinese-hackers-espionage-russia-india-dhs-cisa-alert/
. @danielhoffmanDC, a former chief of station at the CIA, said he doubts the graphics will be too upsetting to Moscow or Beijing, w/ this fun quote: "What Vladimir Putin would do at least is say… ‘You named and shamed us? Ok we’re gonna grab a shot of vodka and go back to work’”
