*By Carlo Versano*
A sophisticated hacking network with ties to Russian intelligence created fake versions of websites for several conservative think tank and U.S. government-affiliated groups in a spear-phishing scheme to gain control of visitors' computers, according to Microsoft's Digital Crime Unit, which announced it had uncovered and disabled the sites in a [blog post](https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2018/08/20/we-are-taking-new-steps-against-broadening-threats-to-democracy/) Tuesday.
There is no evidence that any successful attacks were executed using this method, Microsoft said in the post.
Among the targets by the group ー known as APT28 or Fancy Bear ー were the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington and the State Dept-affiliated non-profit International Republican Institute (IRI). Microsoft also detected a site designed to look like one of its own pages. The other fake sites were built to appear affiliated with the U.S. Senate, Microsoft said.
The report from Microsoft appears to confirm two things: contrary to President Trump's comments in Helsinki in July, the Russian government remains actively involved in attempting to influence American politics as the midterm elections approach; and the tech industry is more committed to identifying and disabling foreign influence campaigns.
Daniel Twining, the president of IRI, [said](https://twitter.com/DCTwining/status/1031884350919458816) his group had been the target of a, "sophisticated Kremlin cyberattack. Another example of how Putin's Russia weaponizes its assault on democratic actors & institutions in the West."
Kenneth Weinstein, the president of the Hudson Institute, [tweeted](https://twitter.com/KenWeinstein/status/1031862589251379202) on Tuesday that he was "deeply proud" of the work that "got us targeted by the GRU," Russia's spy organization.
Microsoft president Brad Smith told the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/politics/russia-cyber-hack.html) that, based on the groups being targeted, the hacking seems to be an extension of Putin's effort to subvert Western democracy. Both the Hudson Institute and IRI have ties to establishment Republicans who have been openly critical of Trump.
A new report from ProPublica and the Washington Post found that Facebook Groups played a major role in the spread of misinformation linked to the January 6 insurrection with more than 650,000 posts claiming that Joe Biden's election victory was illegitimate.
Millions of Americans with young children have relied on the child tax credit since the federal government began issuing checks in July 2021. The last round of payments was sent out just before the Christmas holiday — at the same time as the omicron variant surged. Leah Hamilton, associate professor of social work at Appalachian State University, joined Cheddar to discuss what the end to the tax credit means as the U.S. sees the end of many relief programs and its highest number of COVID cases since the start of the pandemic. "It'll become harder for families to meet their basic needs, increasing national childhood poverty rates and the proportion of families who have difficulty putting food on the table, maintaining stable housing, and paying their bills," Hamilton said. She also pointed to research that the credit as a long-term investment in children offsets claims that it contributes to macroeconomic impacts like inflation.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the week-end, just days after he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call comes as Washington prepares to meet with Moscow on January 10, as tensions mount over Russia's military build up near its border with Ukraine. Cheddar News speaks with Mustafa Tameez, a former advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about the issue.
Several Silicon Valley insiders are being accused of contorting a 1990s-era tax break to avoid taxes on millions of dollars of investment profits. The tax break is known as the qualified small business stock exemption, and it allows early investors in certain companies to avoid half of the taxes on up to $10 million in capital gains. A piece recently published in the New York Times says venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz replicated the tax exemption by giving shares of companies to friends and family, who would otherwise face a 23.8% capital gains bill. The CEO of Roblox is also accused of replicating the tax break for his family members at least 12 times. Although the loophole known as 'stacking' is considered to be legal, the Times piece implies that the exemption has been manipulated for the ultra-wealthy to become more wealthy. Greycroft co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Alan Patricof joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chris Sommerfeldt, City Hall reporter for the New York Daily News, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses both the wins and losses of Bill de Blasio's eight years as New York City Mayor.
The push to regulate the gig worker economy is gaining steam as the share of workers who participate in freelancing through businesses like Uber and Lyft have also exponentially grown during the pandemic. Employment attorney Mark Kluger, founding partner at Kluger Healey, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down how the battle to reclassify gig workers will continue in the new year, and why the issue continues to generate conflict. "More and more workers are using gig work as their primary source of income and as a result of that they are not like employees in the sense that they don't have benefits like health insurance," Kluger noted.
2021 saw markets continue to be impacted by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic -most recently in the form of the Omicron variant- in addition to the global supply chain shortage, and increased inflation. But it wasn't all bad news, as crypto soared throughout the year, and meme stocks continued to have a moment. With the year coming to a close, investors are keeping an eye out to see if they should expect more of the same in the new year. Chris Vecchio, Senior Analyst, at DailyFX tells us what market trends to be on the watch for in 2022.
