[Macron had already become, by far, the most targeted candidate by hackers during the campaign. In February, his movement’s computer systems were attacked by hackers based in Ukraine and needed to be shut down for several hours. These leaks have a feel of deja vu and a number of specialists have already linked them to those that targeted the Democrats during the US presidential campaign. French media speculate about a possible Russian involvement, though there is no evidence for the claims. The timing is evidently aimed at bringing chaos to the last hours of the French campaign, but it is doubtful that the Macron leaks will have a real impact on the final result.
(It very much looks like just another desperate attempt to revive the situation for fascist Marine Le Pen by her foreign backers. - Sukla)] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/06/macronleaks-french-election-campaign-hackers MacronLeaks is final twist in surreal French election campaign Sonia Delesalle-Stolper Latest attack probably too obvious to substantially alter result and may in fact have opposite effect to what hackers want Saturday 6 May 2017 17.52 BST Last modified on Saturday 6 May 2017 18.19 BST The Saturday preceding presidential elections in France is usually quiet. By law, the electoral campaign is suspended for the final 48 hours before the polling stations close. Candidates are forbidden from campaigning. They all but disappear from public view until the moment they cast their vote on the Sunday. The media are compelled to restrict their reporting, banned from discussing in detail the candidates’ platforms. It is the calm before the storm. Macron came to Greece’s aid during our crisis. The French left should back him Yanis Varoufakis Yanis Varoufakis Read more But the 2017 French presidential election is unusual. Up to the last minute there were twists in this surreal campaign, where the unexpected has become the rule. On Friday evening, within a few hours of the official end of the campaign, a message posted on 4chan, a forum favoured by online activists and US far-right supporters alike, signalled the publication of a huge load of data hacked from En Marche!, Emmanuel Macron’s movement. Personal emails, photos, financial files seem to be among the documents, amounting to about 9GB. Within a few minutes, the information was relayed on Twitter and other social media by Jack Posobiec, a well known far-right contributor to the American website The Rebel, openly pro-Trump and pro-Le Pen. He is the same man who on Wednesday spread the rumours that Macron had a hidden bank account in the Bahamas. The frontrunner for the Sunday election immediately took legal action. The hashtag #MacronLeaks started trending on Twitter and WikiLeaks helped spread the information, after first denying it came from them and expressing some doubts about the authenticity of the documents. In France, the Front National couldn’t wait to retweet the news, with Florian Philippot, Marine Le Pen’s lieutenant, taking the lead. Minutes before the legally enforced ending of the campaign, Macron’s movement issued a statement warning about a “massive hacking attack”. En Marche! explained that these documents had been hacked over a period of several weeks, that some of them were genuine and without any compromising content. Other documents in the data trove, however, appeared to have been fabricated. Macron had already become, by far, the most targeted candidate by hackers during the campaign. In February, his movement’s computer systems were attacked by hackers based in Ukraine and needed to be shut down for several hours. These leaks have a feel of deja vu and a number of specialists have already linked them to those that targeted the Democrats during the US presidential campaign. French media speculate about a possible Russian involvement, though there is no evidence for the claims. The timing is evidently aimed at bringing chaos to the last hours of the French campaign, but it is doubtful that the Macron leaks will have a real impact on the final result. First of all, they are not a real surprise. French voters have already heard and read about the similar hacking attacks in France and other countries, notably during the US elections. And the spreading of fake news has become commonplace in France too. Secondly, at first glance, no huge or obvious scandal seems to arise from the leak: journalists and experts will need months to properly study the content. Surprisingly, Juan Branco, Julian Assange’s adviser in France, has himself denounced the leak on Twitter as a “disgusting process”. He said: “Just a few hours before the end of the campaign, which forces the candidates into silence, gigabytes of data are massively leaked … What for? To raise suspicions? To generate a last-minute unverifiable doubt?” For months French voters have been living through a campaign full of twists and turns, violence and divisions. Families, friends and colleagues are divided and will remain so for some time This latest attack is probably too obvious to substantially alter the result on Sunday and in fact, it might have the opposite effect from what the hackers had hoped for. This clear attempt to influence the democratic process might in fact convince some voters to turn up who had originally planned to abstain. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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