A widely reported Russian hack of Burlington Electric, a Vermont utility, amounts to far less than alarmists feared. An employee's laptop, not connected to grid controls, linked to an IP address associated with, but not exclusively used by, threat actors. Inspection revealed signs of the Neutrino exploit kit on the device, but this is very circumstantial evidence, at best, of the Russian hacking initially reported. There are indeed risks to the North American grid, but this doesn't appear to be one of the serious ones. Links to initial reports as well as subsequent qualifications and critiques appear below.

Russian disinclination to retaliate for US expulsion of Russian diplomats last week is drawing generally favorable (usually begrudgingly favorable) notices. Security analysts tend to agree that, while it's reasonable to conclude there were GRU and FSB intrusions into US political party networks during the election season, voting itself was not manipulated. The US Intelligence Community has high confidence in its attribution of the hacks to Russian intelligence services, but last week's FBI and NCCIC Joint Analysis Report on Grizzly Steppe draws tepid reviews, its case seen by many as disappointingly circumstantial.

Anonymous resurfaces in the new year, defacing a Bilderberg Group website to demand a change of heart from the Bilderbergers' elite membership.

ISIS is back online, claiming responsibility for massacres in Istanbul and Baghdad. The declared motive of the former (responding to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's inspiration) was "revenge" against Turkey. The latter was intended simply to kill "a gathering of Shia."