Russian hacking threatens online security

Donald Trump won the election on Nov. 8 and became the 45th president of the United States. Normally, there would not be any problems with a new president. However, the U.S. government has claimed that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations, resulting in hackers releasing thousands of emails, including some information that damaged the Democratic Party and its candidate Hillary Clinton. Many people believe that Russia’s hacking helped Trump win the election.

It seems to be a substantiated theory because Russia has been supporting Trump. Unlike Trump’s good intentions toward the Russian government, Clinton showed a tough attitude toward Russia, which means that if Clinton had been elected, Russia would not have benefitted.

President Barack Obama decided to take action towards Russia by contacting President Vladimir Putin through the “Moscow-Washington hotline.” In an interview with NPR about his attitude toward Russian cyberattacks, Obama stated, “I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action and we will at a time and place of our own choosing.”

        Trump had totally different thoughts about Russian hacking, and its influence on the election. Trump dismissed Russia having any effect on the election. He thinks it is ridiculous to accuse Russia of doing something that it might not have done. “I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it,” Trump said, “No, I don’t believe that at all. They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed or some place. I mean they have no idea.”

I think that Russia causing the email leaks might have influenced Clinton’s support and votes. However, I don’t think that is the main reason that caused her to lose the election. It is also true that Trump has a close relationship with Putin in some ways, but there is no evidence to prove that Russia caused him to win, so there is no reason to blame either Trump or Russia.

But if Russia hacked Democratic accounts, it could hack our personal ones. The internet security problem should be solved as fast as possible, so we can have a safer online environment.