Elaine Ou, Columnist

Don't Assume That Russia Hacked the U.S. Election

Tracing a data breach is almost never a sure thing.

December 13, 2016 at 5:02 PM UTC

Elaine Ou is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a blockchain engineer at Global Financial Access in San Francisco. Previously she was a lecturer in the electrical and information engineering department at the University of Sydney.

Whodunnit?
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Americans and their news media have displayed a great willingness to believe that the Russian government stands behind the theft and release of emails that may have helped Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election.

They should keep in mind that, despite the “high confidence” of intelligence agencies, tracing a data breach is almost never a sure thing.