Digital Sovereignty & Cyber Security

Microsoft plans to shut down LinkedIn in China due to increased operating environment challenges and compliance requirements. In June, some academics in China had their LinkedIn accounts blocked due to "prohibited content."

• In September, U.S. journalists in China lost access to their accounts in the local version of LinkedIn, which the platform cited as prohibited content.
• LinkedIn plans to replace the local version of the platform with a job board without social media features.

Heard of that presidential election coming up? Russia has too. And that worries US officials.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Yesterday, the head of the NSA told lawmakers that he's worried a foreign government (hint: rhymes with Shmussia) may be trying to undermine the US election. The FBI is investigating two recent cyber attacks on voter registration databases in Illinois and Arizona that were traced back to Russia. Officials think more states might have been targeted, but their lips are sealed because classified.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Unclear. But this comes after the Democratic party was hacked earlier this year by groups believed to have ties to zee Russian government. The Clinton campaign thinks Russia hacked the Dems to benefit GOP nominee Donald Trump, who has given props to Russian President Putin many times on the campaign trail. Trump says Putin's not helping him, but he wouldn't mind if Russia did some more digginginto Clinton's inbox.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Yesterday, Russian hackers leaked the medical records of US Olympic athletes…including Serena Williams and Simone Biles. These records show that both ladies got the OK from officials to use banned drugs for medical reasons. The hackers said these records proved the athletes played "well but not fair." Reminder: dozens of Russian athletes were banned from Rio thanks to a state-sponsored doping scandal. Not the same thing.

theSKIMM

Many think all of these hacks are aimed at hurting the credibility of the US on the world stage. And the idea that Russia – a major geopolitical player – may be trying to manipulate the credibility of the US presidential race has some wondering when and how the US will respond.