WaPo: US Cyber Command Hobbled Russian Troll Farm On Election Day 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during a media conference after a G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The final day of the G-... Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during a media conference after a G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The final day of the G-8 summit of wealthy nations is ending with discussions on globe-trotting corporate tax dodgers, a lunch with leaders from Africa, and suspense over whether Russia and Western leaders can avoid diplomatic fireworks over their deadlock on Syria’s civil war. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool) MORE LESS
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Even Russian hackers have mysterious internet outages.

According to a report in the Washington Post, U.S. Cyber Command launched an attack on the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg that shut down the group’s internet on the day of the 2018 midterm elections.

“The blockage was so frustrating to the trolls that they complained to their system administrators about the disruption, the officials said,” the story reads.

The Internet Research Agency is accused of running an online trolling operation that targeted the 2016 presidential election by spreading disinformation through social media networks.

The New York Times reported separately last year that part of the U.S. offensive operation in 2018 included directly targeting the trolls by their real, offline names and identities, letting them know they were being watched.

The Internet Research Agency is allegedly funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin fixer known by the nickname “Putin’s Chef.”

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