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Russian Strategic Bombers Near Canada Practice Cruise Missile Strikes on US

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Photo Credit: APTwo Russian strategic bombers conducted practice cruise missile attacks on the United States during a training mission last week that defense officials say appeared timed to the NATO summit in Wales.

The Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked flying a route across the northern Atlantic near Iceland, Greenland, and Canada’s northeast.

Analysis of the flight indicated the aircraft were conducting practice runs to a pre-determined “launch box”—an optimum point for firing nuclear-armed cruise missiles at U.S. targets, said defense officials familiar with intelligence reports.

Disclosure of the nuclear bombing practice comes as a Russian general last week called for Moscow to change its doctrine to include preemptive nuclear strikes on the United States and NATO.

Gen. Yuri Yakubov, a senior Defense Ministry official, was quoted by the state-run Interfax news agency as saying that Russia’s 2010 military doctrine should be revised to identify the United States and the NATO alliance as enemies, and clearly outline the conditions for a preemptive nuclear strike against them.

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Canada Gives Russia A Geography Lesson

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After Putin claimed the nine Russian soldiers captured in Ukraine Wednesday crossed the border accidentally, Canada kindly issued a geography lesson via Twitter to help the Russians sort it out…

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FBI Examining Whether Russia Is Tied to JPMorgan Hacking

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Photo Credit: Peter Foley / Bloomberg

Photo Credit: Peter Foley / Bloomberg

Russian hackers attacked the U.S. financial system in mid-August, infiltrating and stealing data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and at least one other bank, an incident the FBI is investigating as a possible retaliation for government-sponsored sanctions, according to two people familiar with the probe.

The attack resulted in the loss of gigabytes of sensitive data, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe is still preliminary. Authorities are investigating whether recent infiltrations of major European banks using a similar vulnerability are also linked to the attack, one of the people said.

In one case, the hackers used a software flaw known as a zero-day vulnerability in one of the banks’ websites. They then plowed through layers of elaborate security to steal the data, a feat security experts said appeared far beyond the capability of ordinary criminal hackers. The incidents occurred at a low point in relations between Russia and the West. Russian troops continue to mass on the Ukrainian border and the West tightens sanctions aimed at crippling Russian companies, including some of the country’s most important banks.

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Russian Bombers Increase Flights Near U.S. Airspace

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Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force

For the second time since June, Russian nuclear bombers escorted by fighter jets have flown near U.S. and Canadian airspace around Alaska in recent days, prompting precautionary intercepts by American warplanes.

The encounters come amid Russian war games along the border with eastern Ukraine, raising Western concerns that Moscow might invade to support pro-Moscow separatists battling the Kiev government since spring.

A U.S. air command official acknowledged at least 16 Russian forays around Alaska and northern Canada in the past 10 days, describing them as routine training missions. One intercept spotted a Russian spy plane among the Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear” bombers and Tu-142 reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft.

“Over the past week, NORAD has visually identified Russian aircraft operating in and around the U.S. air defense identification zones,” Maj. Beth Smith, of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, toldThe Washington Free Beacon.

Russian bombers have regularly flown along the sensitive airspace between Russia, Alaska and Arctic Canada, but Smith called the latest missions “a spike in activity.”

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Russian Gang Stole 1.2 Billion Net Passwords

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Photo Credit: Brian A. Jackson, Getty / iStockphoto

Photo Credit: Brian A. Jackson, Getty / iStockphoto

Security researchers say a Russian crime ring has pulled off the largest known theft of confidential Internet information, including 1.2 billion username and password combinations and more than 500 million email addresses.

The cyber gang injected malicious code to steal databases from at least 420,000 websites, says Alex Holden, founder and chief information security officer for Hold Security in Milwaukee, Wisc.

“It is absolutely the largest breach we’ve ever encountered,” Holden said late Tuesday.

Most unsettling, he said, was finding his own credentials among the compromised data.

Hold Security cyber sleuths have been monitoring the cyber gang for about seven months, but only recently realized the magnitude of the gang’s operation, Holden said.

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US Accuses Russia of Violating 1987 Missile Treaty

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U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin talk before the first session of the G20 Summit in Los CabosThe Obama administration has accused Russia of violating a 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing a ground-launched cruise missile and says the U.S. is prepared for immediate high-level dialogue with Moscow over the matter.

An administration official told Fox News in a statement that the violation “is a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now.” The New York Times first reported the accusation.

President Obama informed Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter Monday of the U.S.’ determination that Russia broke the agreement. The official said the U.S. is prepared to engage in “senior-level bilateral dialogue immediately” with Russia with the goal of assuring Washington that Moscow will return to compliance with the treaty.

“The United States is committed to the viability of the I.N.F. Treaty,” the official said. “We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the Treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable manner.”

According to the Times, Russia started testing the missiles as early as 2008, and the Obama administration flagged them as a possible violation at the end of 2011.

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A Policy So Bizzare, So Obama

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

Obama has a new get-tough policy with Russia.

It’s called the War on the Billionaires.

The United States is using narrow sanctions against Russian billionaires—private persons presumably– some of whom Obama supposes supports Russia’s war in Ukraine. And the policy isn’t just bizarre; it’s Obama.

He’s seen our war on millionaires here at home, and raised them a war on billionaires in Russia.

“The U.S. and Europe are gearing up for a new round of sanctions expected to be announced this week that will impose travel bans and business sanctions against several Russian billionaires with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” reports CNBC. “In a phone call last night, British Prime Minister David Cameron told Putin that his ‘cronies’ will face sanctions unless Russia withdraws its support for the separatists in Ukraine.”

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The U.S. Politicos Kissing Up to Russia (Including Our Very Own…)

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Photo Credit: Maxim ShipenkovWashington’s celebration of U.S.-Russian relations quickly turned into a pity party for the Kremlin’s die-hard American apologists…

Speaker after speaker, with few exceptions, denounced American policy towards Russia, defended the actions of Vladimir Putin, and ferociously attacked anyone who disagreed with them. The discussions took place at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, with an after party at the Embassy…

The American system was represented, by two, state-level American politicians there: Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Both men were recruited to gush about the importance of U.S.-Russian relations for their respective state economies, and warn against any moves that might set those relations back. “The first question I’m always asked is can I see Russia from my house,” Treadwell joked in reference to the former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, before getting to the more serious business. “Do not forget: we are neighbors because people will be affected.” Tell that to the Ukrainians.

Ritchie took to the stage to complain about how a “U.S.-Russia Innovation” forum originally scheduled to take place in St. Paul in March was “frozen” by the State Department as a result of Russia’s invasion of Crimea. “You don’t call them and tell dinner’s off because Washington called and said, ‘cancel dinner,’” he said. Apparently, Russia’s blatant overthrow of the European security order shouldn’t interfere with Midwestern hospitality.

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Russian Bombers Fly Within 50 Miles of California Coast

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Photo Credit: APFour Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.

“The last time we saw anything similar was two years ago on the Fourth of July,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Norad spokesman, told the Free Beacon.

Davis said the latest Bear H incursions began Monday around 4:30 p.m. Pacific time when radar detected the four turbo-prop powered bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.

Two U.S. Air Force F-22 jets were scrambled and intercepted the bombers over the Aleutians.

After tracking the bombers as they flew eastward, two of the four Bears turned around and headed west toward the Russian Far East. The bombers are believed to be based at the Russian strategic base near Anadyr, Russia.

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Collision Course: Russian Jet Nearly Collides with U.S. Surveillance Aircraft in ‘Reckless’ Intercept in Asia

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Photo Credit: Air Force A Russian Su-27 jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Pacific northeast recently in an aerial clash not seen since the Cold War.

An Air Force RC-135 electronic intelligence jet was flying a surveillance run some 60 miles off the Russian Far East coast, north of Japan, on April 23 when the incident occurred, according to defense officials familiar with the incident.

The Su-27 flew to follow the RC-135, and at one point rolled sideways to reveal its air-to-air missile before flying within 100 feet of the cockpit in an attempt to unnerve the crew.

The showdown was video-recorded by the aircrew.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren said the Su-27 intercepted the RC-135U as it conducted a routine surveillance mission in international airspace over the Sea of Okhotsk during the afternoon of April 23.

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