title:  President Obama Warns Putin: Don’t Hack Our Elections
text: Recently, intelligence agencies, including the FBI, have found evidence linking Russian state-sponsored hackers as the culprits in multiple breaches of Democratic institutions and state election systems. In what is being seen as tilt-the-election in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump (due to Democrats being the victim in all the cyber-intrusions), President Obama issued a strong warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin: don t mess with our elections.Although not mentioning the election specifically (as far as we know), President Obama warned Putin that should he start a cyber war with the United States, we would have the upper hand: I will tell you we ve had problems with cyber intrusions from Russia in the past and from other countries in the past. We re moving into a new era here and frankly, we ve got more capacity than anybody both offensively and defensively  What we cannot do is have a situation where this becomes the wild, wild West, where countries that have significant cyber capacity start engaging in unhealthy competition or conflict through these means. President Obama also urged Putin not to duplicate or continue the  cycle of escalation  when it comes to nation s hacking others for personal, political or economic gain.And that s how it s done. Trump, take note.It was reported in the Washington Post on Sunday that American intelligence officials are formally launching an investigation to find out if Russian state-sponsored hackers are planning on a disruption in November s general election:The aim is to understand the scope and intent of the Russian campaign, which incorporates  cyber-tools to hack systems used in the political process, enhancing Russia s ability to spread disinformation  A Russian influence operation in the United States  is something we re looking very closely at,  said one senior intelligence official who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Officials also are examining potential disruptions to the election process, and the FBI has alerted state and local officials to potential cyberthreats.It s no secret the Russians are pro-Trump, who they see as the perfect puppet for their thugs at the Kremlin. Not only do they see Trump as the way to continue their illegal, coercive and consequential actions, they have actively purchased his campaign with Paul Manafort (before he was forced to resign after it was discovered).Luckily, President Obama has the guts to stand up to Russia and their Gestapo tactics. While Trump folds like an accordion in Mexico, President Obama flexes his muscles.Don t mess with the United States  elections.Featured image via Lintao Zhang/Getty Images