秘密计划：阻止普京（下）| 时代周刊
Inside the Secret Plan to Stop Vladimir Putin’s U.S. Election Plot （Part 2）
THE PLAN AND THE LAST STAND
计划与最终立场
Paralyzed by politics at home, Obama tried to blunt the threat directly abroad. In a now famous one-on-one meeting with Putin in early September in Hangzhou, China, Obama told him to "cut it out" or face unspecified consequences. The confrontation was memorialized in a photo of the two men staring icily at each other.
受制于国内政治瘫痪，奥巴马试图减弱直接来自于国外的威胁。9月在中国杭州与普京单独会晤时，奥巴马让他“住手”，否则后果难料，这次会面如今名气不小。两个男人冷目相视的照片记录了这一对抗。
For a while it looked as if the warning might work. "The intelligence community basically told us that [they were] not seeing [the Russians] continuing to go down that road," says a former senior White House official. And in the U.S., DHS scanned voting systems remotely across the country and found and patched vulnerabilities. Some states also accepted visits by DHS cybersecurity teams that checked for vulnerabilities in person. But relations between the states and the feds remained chilly.
貌似奥巴马的警告一度奏效了。白宫一位前高级官员说：“情报界大体告诉我们，已难觅踪迹了。”在美国，国土安全部远程对全国选举系统进行扫描，发现并给漏洞打了补丁。国土安全部也派网络安全小组到部分州亲自查找漏洞，但各州与联调局探员关系依然冷淡。
Then, in October, the attacks resumed. The GRU launched an operation against a software company, VR Systems, that provided election software and devices to at least eight states, according to a report by the Intercept. The intruders used the information to craft a convincing-looking email that served a spear-phishing campaign against the electoral officials across the country.
到了10月，攻击又开始了。据《拦截者》报道，俄罗斯军情部门对VR系统软件公司发起攻击，该公司给至少八个州安装选举软件和设施。入侵者利用盗来的软件信息捏造一份看起来令人信服的邮件，对全美选举官员发起钓鱼式攻击。
With just weeks to go until the vote, the White House cybersecurity team realized there was little it could do to stop a Russian attempt to undermine the credibility of the vote on Election Day, so it shifted into damage-control mode. In late October, the White House distributed its 15-page plan to deal with an Election Day attack to the top cybersecurity officials across the federal government. Daniel says he briefed Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, on the plan; it is not clear if President Obama himself was informed of it or any of its details. It started by saying that "in almost all potential cases of malicious cyberactivity impacting election infrastructure" the feds would defer to state and local governments.
大选数周前，白宫网络安全团队意识到很难阻止减轻俄国黑客在大选当天削弱选举可信度的图谋，于是团队改变策略，转用减损模式。10月末，白宫向联邦政府的最高网络安全官分发了15页计划书，对付大选当天的网络攻击。丹尼尔说，他知会了奥巴马的幕僚长丹尼斯·麦克多诺，但不确定奥巴马总统本人是否知晓计划书或了解其中细节。计划书开章明义，说 “几乎所有可能恶意破坏选举基设的网络行为” ，联调局探员都会移交州及地方政府处理。
But it also authorized robust federal action as well. If there were a "significant cyberincident" that would result in a "demonstrable impact to election infrastructure," DHS, FBI and the office of the Director of National Intelligence would "activate enhanced procedures and allocate their resources."
但计划书中同时授权联邦政府采取果断行动。一旦发生“重大网络事故”，对“选举基设产生显而易见的影响”，国土安全部、联邦调查局和国家情报主任办公室将“激活增强程序，派出力量”。
The Justice Department's election-crimes unit and civil rights divisions were on standby, as were parts of DHS and the Secret Service. The FBI could dispatch any of its Cyber Task Forces from their 56 field offices to "facilitate joint information sharing, incident response, law enforcement and intelligence actions." Four FBI Cyber Action Teams were on standby "if cyberinvestigative techniques are needed to rapidly respond to a call for assistance," but the plan indicated that they could not "self-deploy" without FBI higher-ups' approval. Several Obama Administration officials said the plan and the powers it envisioned tapping in a crisis were similar to those available in cases of natural disasters.
司法部选举犯罪科和公民权利处也都随时待命，两部门曾隶属国土安全部和特勤局。联邦调查局可从56个网络行动队所在处调兵遣将，“推动信息共享、危机反应、执法和情报行动。”4个联调局网络行动队随时待命，“一旦需要网络侦查，技术支持马上跟进”，但计划指出没有联调局高层同意，4个小组不得“擅自行动”。数位奥巴马政府官员认为，应对危机的计划和其授权与自然灾害的应急力量类似。
Heavier forces waited in the wings. The White House plan included the possibility of deploying active and reserve components of the military. "The Department of Defense may support civil authorities in response to cyberincidents based upon a request from a federal agency, and the direction of the Secretary of Defense or the President," the plan said. Two people familiar with it say the idea was to make the Pentagon's cyberexperts available to mitigate and investigate an attack.
更强大的力量准备就绪。白宫计划包括可能调遣现役和预备役部队。“一联邦部门提出申请、国防部长或总统下令，国防部可对民事政府予以支援。”两位知情人士表示，这可以让五角大楼的网络专家参与，减轻攻击损失并对攻击展开调查。
At 6 a.m. on Election Day 2016, Ferrante opened the door to the "second Situation Room," a carbon copy of the President's secure West Wing conference room a stone's throw away in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. On a secure video teleconference system, the team dialed into the FBI and DHS command posts that were running the Election Day response. They were joined by election-crimes coordinators from the Justice Department and cyberintelligence agents in the office of the Director of National Intelligence. Russia experts at CIA, NSA and other intelligence-community agencies were standing by on the classified Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) email system.
2016年大选日，早上6点，费朗特推门走进“第二战情室”，这里依白宫西厅安全的会议室而建，距艾森豪威尔行政楼几步之遥。行动小组通过安全视频会议系统，拨通了联邦调查局和国土安全部选举当天的指挥点。小组成员还包括司法部选举犯罪协调员和国家情报主任办公室网络情报员。中央情报局、国家安全局和其他情报机构的俄国专家在“世界联动情报通讯系统”（JWICS）邮件系统旁严阵以待。
Over the course of the day, reports came in that made the group think it might be seeing a repeat of Riverside County, or worse. In Colorado, the election voter database went down for 30 minutes. In Utah, lines formed in what had become an unlikely battleground thanks to the independent candidacy of Evan McMullin. At one point, sensitive intelligence came in that needed to be run to ground. But ultimately the level of disruption was no greater than in any normal national election, and all in all, the vote went off smoothly. As the polls closed, and the election was called for Donald Trump, some on the White House cyberteam celebrated the fact that there had been no disruptive attack.
整个大选日，报告情况让团队得出，与里弗赛德县遭袭的情形一样，甚至更糟。在科罗拉多，选民数据库崩溃了30分钟。在犹他州，因为无党派候选人埃文·麦克马林，排队的人简直像在打仗。敏感情报一度传来，需要追查到底，但最终，选举没比正常选举糟到哪里去，投票顺利进行。投票结束，唐纳德·特朗普当选，部分白宫网络团队反倒庆幸，未发生毁灭性打击。
FROM BAD TO WORSE
越来越糟
On Nov. 25, amid talk of possible challenges to the vote in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, the Obama White House released a statement saying, "We stand behind our election results, which accurately reflect the will of the American people [and] believe our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective." But even as the calls for recounts faded, doubts about the security of the election system spread.
11月25日，人们说威斯康星、宾夕法尼亚和密歇根州选举可能遭黑客攻击，奥巴马白宫发表声明称：“我们支持选举结果，结果准确反映了美国人民的意愿， 从网络安全角度说，相信我们的选举是自由、公正的。”可即使要求重新记票呼声消退，对选举系统安全性的质疑增加。
A senior intelligence official tells TIME that while the cybersecurity officials at the FBI, DHS and the White House may have been scrambling to secure the vote throughout the fall, the counterintelligence operation at the bureau aimed at uncovering whether the Russian operation was trying to aid Trump only really began in earnest once the election was over.
一位高级情报官员对《时代》周刊说，尽管联邦调查局、国土安全部和白宫的网络安全官整个秋季忙作一团，保卫大选，可旨在发现俄国是否试图协助特朗普的反谍行动是选举结束后才开始认真进行。
Given the focus of FBI cyber and counterintelligence officials on Hillary Clinton's emails, this looks like a spectacular blunder in retrospect. The Russia counterintelligence probe "never got any intelligence legs until after the election," the senior official says, "because I don't think anybody believed Trump would win, so nobody really put a lot of stock into the Russian attempts [to help him]."
联邦调查局网络及反情报官集中力量调查希拉里·克林顿邮件时间，事后看来这真是大错特错。该高级官员表示，对俄反谍调查“直到大选结束后才动了真格，因为没人认为特朗普能赢，所以没人费力气去调查俄罗斯的企图。”
At the same time, some division remained over who the real threat was to America's electoral system remained. Georgia was the only state that didn't accept some form of assistance from the federal assistance, according to officials familiar with the matter. But as the Georgians looked for intruders themselves, they found a DHS employee scanning their system on Nov. 15. DHS looked into the matter and said it was an employee of the federal training facility in Glynco, Ga., confirming that job applicants in fact had licenses to be armed guards, which are on the same system as the voter data. The DHS inspector general, John Roth, looked into the matter and concluded in June that DHS employees did not conduct any unauthorized scans of the Georgia election system.
与此同时，真正威胁美国选举系统的原因尚存分歧。据知情人透露，佐治亚州是唯一未接受联邦政府支持的州。但佐治亚州选民自查入侵者时，发现国土安全部一雇员11月15日扫描了系统。国土安全部对此事进行了调查，称这位雇员系佐治亚州格伦科联邦训练机构雇员，确认该岗位事实上有权作为保卫者查看系统选民数据。国土安全部监察长约翰·罗斯调查了此事，6月得出结论，国土安全部雇员受命扫描佐治亚州选举系统。
If some state officials remain angry about the perceived threat of federal overreach, many also appear to be in denial about the extent of the risk from overseas. The Russians succeeded in compromising more than 20 state systems, according to Jeanette Manfra, a senior Homeland Security official. But calls by TIME to the offices of election officials in every state revealed only two, Arizona's and Illinois's, that know or are willing to admit that they were hacked. And when TIME asked Illinois to confirm that the Russian intruder had tried to alter data fields, state officials at first denied that had happened, but after checking with their technical team, confirmed that it had.
如果部分州内官员仍对联邦政府过度调查造成潜在威胁而忿忿不平，许多人则否定海外威胁的程度。国土安全部高级官员珍妮特·曼弗拉说，俄国人成功破坏超过20个州的系统。可《时代》周刊致电各州选举官员，只有亚利桑那和伊利诺斯两个州表示知道或愿意承认他们被黑了。《时代》周刊询问伊利诺斯州，是否有俄罗斯黑客侵入试图篡改数据项时，伊州官员开始予以否认，经询问技术小组后，确定遭侵。
Partisan suspicion now runs in both directions. On May 11, President Trump announced the creation of an election-integrity commission. Nominally it was supposed to "study vulnerabilities in voting systems," but it got off to a rocky start, requesting vast amounts of personal information on voters from every state. That led Vanita Gupta, head of the civil rights division in the Obama Justice Department to allege that the true goal of the Trump panel is to "lay the groundwork for voter suppression" by making it more difficult for typically pro-Democrat minorities to vote.
现在，党派间的猜疑有两个走向。5月11日，特朗普总统称要创建一个选举诚信委员会，名义上“研究选举系统的漏洞”，可一开始就难以推行，它要求各州提供大量选民个人信息，奥巴马时期司法部下的公民权利部门负责人瓦尼塔·古普塔认为，特朗普的真正目的是“为欺压选民奠定基础”，让支持民主党的少数选民更难投票。
In fact, Trump's commission asks only for voter information that states can legally provide. But it is arousing the same kind of partisan suspicions that Obama's efforts to work with the states did last fall. In Arizona, secretary of state Reagan says she has declined to hand over the personal information Trump's panel wants. As a result, she says, her competitor in next year's Republican primary is attacking her for not supporting Trump. "I can remember when all the states were like, 'Heck no, we're not supporting the federal government's election intrusions.'"
实际上，特朗普的委员会只要求各州可以合法提供的选民信息。但这招致和去年秋天一样的党派猜疑，当时奥巴马希望和各州合作。亚利桑那州州务卿里根表示，她拒绝交出特朗普团队要的个人信息。她说，明年她在共和党初选中的对手抨击她不支持特朗普。“我记得当时所有州都说：不，我们不支持联邦政府干涉选举。”
The result may be that safeguarding future elections is only going to get harder. Meanwhile, House Republicans are trying to defund the $8 million Congress provides annually to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which guides states in running safe and reliable elections. Republicans say that the agency is ineffective and unnecessary and that its work can be done instead by the famously weak Federal Election Commission.
后果可能是捍卫未来的选举越来越难。众议院共和党人削减每年对选举援助委员会800万美元的拨款，后者指导各州举行安全可靠的选举。共和党人认为该委员会效率低，可有可无，其工作可以由联邦选举委员会接手，众所周知，后者效率很差。
Democrats argue that gutting the tiny agency is reckless, especially right now. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar has introduced a bill that would refund the EAC and provide $325 million to the states to improve election infrastructure, expand voting opportunities and strengthen cyberprotections. The bill has no support among Republicans.
民主党则认为，除去这个小机构是不顾后果的，尤其当下。民主党参议员阿米·克罗布彻提案，要求向选举援助委员会拨款，并为各州提供3.25亿美元，用于改善选举基设，拓宽投票机会及强化网络保护能力。共和党人都不支持该提案。
In Riverside County, election security remains front and center. Next month the county will hold votes for water district boards of directors and in November will have general elections on community services, libraries and schools. The county registrar, Rebecca Spencer, says she has been working with a local state assemblywoman to get emails and texts sent when a voter changes any part of online voter information. DA Hestrin sponsored the bill that will make that happen, but worries about continuing voter doubts. "People's faith in the system is a fragile thing," he says. "Once people lose faith that the elections are fair and honest, then our entire system of government is in jeopardy."
在里弗赛德县，选举安全仍是重中之重。下个月，该县将选出水区选举人团，11月将在社区部门、图书馆和学校开展普选。选民注册部门主任瑞毕卡·斯潘说，她与一名地方女议员一起，接收邮件和短信，记录选民在线上更改的任何选民信息。DA·赫斯汀支持该行动议案，可担心选民依然怀疑选举。“人们对系统的信心很脆弱，”他说。“一旦人们不相信选举公平、诚信，整个政府体系就岌岌可危了。”
译者 张娜