The Russians hacked our electric grid!! That’s what the geniuses at the Washington Post wanted us to believe on the morning of December 31, 2016. Lets end the year in fear and trembling shall we?

Only one problem with their “story.” As I pointed out here… IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. The DHS even said it didn’t happen!

1) Not an infiltration of the power grid.
2) "Russian" malware can be purchased online by anyone.
3) See 1 & 2. https://t.co/bVIG8zQBsk

— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) December 31, 2016

In fact, just 1 1/2 hours AFTER the story was published, one of the Vermont utilities, Burlington Electric, pushed back at the Post with this news release. Furthermore, it became very apparent that no one at the Post, from the reporters to the editors, had contacted Burlington Electric for information before running with their “story!” So what do they do? As The Hill says in its story title…

“Washington Post corrects story on Vermont utility breach”

Wait a minute. It was a utility breach? Lets take a look at the Post’s original title.

“Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont, officials say.”

Now take a look at the title change later in the day once they realized their narrative was falling apart.

“Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility, showing risk to U.S. electrical grid security, officials say.”

So, even though their entire story was so full of holes it was a sieve, they still stuck to the ZOMG!! The Russians Are Hacking EVERYTHING! narrative.

The media breathlessly reported on how BAD this was going to be for us all.

The problem is, as Forbes Kalev Leetaru points out, the story that the Russians were the culprit will continue to circulate because too many get their news from the STORY TITLE, and that’s it. These days many don’t bother to READ the entire story. Granted, if they had during the first go around and never circled back multiple times, then they would’ve missed this oh-so-subtle correction that popped up nearly a day later.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid. Authorities say there is no indication of that so far. The computer at Burlington Electric that was hacked was not attached to the grid.

Guess what folks? The Washington Post didn’t correct ANYTHING! The title (their second one) is still the same. The entire STORY is still the same.

My money's on this all turns out to be commodity malware and not even APT28/APT29 and everyone jumping on the bandwagon will look v silly

— Pwn ██ ██ ███ 1.4(C) – Declassified in Part (@pwnallthethings) December 31, 2016

And that’s precisely what happened. However it doesn’t look like the Post plans a full retraction. The story is still there and still circulating its fake news. Want to get some reality regarding Russian hacking? Read all three posts from noted cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr. Also, read this article from Matt Taibbi. He’s right, something about the Russia hack story propagated by Obama with his “sanctions” does stink. Taibbi should know, he spent more than 10 years living and working in Russia.

Is our grid vulnerable? Yes it is. Ted Koppel wrote a book about it. Others have issued warnings.

The Washington Post got suckered by a government “source.” Rather than retract their fake news story, they’ve stuck with it. And in doing so they look stupid. I guess fear mongering instead of reporting facts is what passes for “news” with the mainstream media these days. And they wonder why we laugh at them…