Russia’s President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly at the Moscow Kremlin. Photograph by Mikhail Metzel—TASS via Getty Images

The holidays are a slow time for news, leading much of the media to focus on stuff like sports and Mariah Carey's meltdown on New Year's Eve. But the end of 2016 also brought a spate of stories involving hacking, which has become one of the biggest political and security issues of our time.

So in case you've been away or offline, here's a summary of five significant cybersecurity stories that came out while you were quaffing eggnog or watching football:

1. Vermont's Power Grid Was (Not) Hacked

The Washington Post last Friday published an alarming headline suggesting that Russia had "penetrated" the U.S. power grid via a Vermont utility. The story touched off a minor panic as politicians and media outlets fretted that the Kremlin could plunge parts of America into cold, snowy darkness.

Fortunately, the story was wrong. It turned out that a single laptop belonging to Vermont's government contained malware of Russian origin—but the computer was not connected to the grid, and there is no evidence that the malware was placed by the Kremlin. The Post has since rebutted its own story, as have many others.

2. The Obama Administration's Big Hacking Reveal Falls Flat

The White House retaliated for Moscow's meddling with the U.S. election by expelling 35 diplomats, and by publishing a report on Russian hacking. The analysis included two examples of the malware that Russia had allegedly used to carry out the hacking schemes.

But the report failed to provide any smoking guns, and the malware examples appeared to be common bits of code that are widely available on the Internet. It's possible, of course, that the White House deliberately withheld more damning information in order to avoid revealing details about U.S. intelligence operations. But for serious cybersecurity folks, the report is a dud.

3. Germany on Edge Over Elections

Germany is ramping up its cybersecurity defenses amid widespread fears that Russia will run its familiar playbook, consisting of hacking and information, in a bid to sway the country's upcoming elections. As the FT reported last week:

German security officials have said last year’s assault on the Bundestag’s computer network was also carried out by Russia-backed hackers seeking ammunition for electoral meddling. Earlier this month, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel warned that there were signs of internet-based attacks and misinformation campaigns coming from Russia that could “play a role in the election campaign.

4. Trump Says He'll Divulge Details About Hacking

In an apparent shift of strategy, Donald Trump said he will share new information about recent hacking incidents, including “things that other people don’t know.” Previously, the President-elect has brushed off questions about hacking and said it was time to move on. Trump, who also said "I know a lot about hacking," suggested he will disclose the information on Tuesday or Wednesday.

5. Where Russia Gets All Those Hackers

The New York Times published a feature that provides new insights into how Russia built the cyber army that's now causing so much trouble. Interesting tidbits relate to the recruitment of garden variety cyber criminals, and how Russia's hacking force now amounts to "guerrilla geopolitics." Definitely worth a read.

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在俄罗斯联邦议会发表国情咨文，莫斯科克里姆林宫。

假期中的新闻很少，媒体的很大一部分注意力都集中在体育赛事和玛利亚·凯利被爆新年夜假唱等事件上。不过，在2016年年底也出现了一系列和黑客有关的故事，而这已经成为了我们这个时代最重要的政治和安全问题之一。

因此，考虑到大家可能没有亲身经历或者不在线，我们在此汇总了五件重大网络安全事件。它们发生的时候大家正在畅饮蛋奶酒，或者在看球赛。

1. 佛蒙特州电网（并未）遭黑客入侵

上周五，《华盛顿邮报》以醒目标题警告称，俄罗斯已经通过佛蒙特州的一处公用设施“侵入”美国电网。这篇报道在政客和新闻机构中引发了轻微恐慌，他们担心俄罗斯政府可能会让美国的部分地区在寒冷的雪夜陷入黑暗之中。

所幸这篇报道有误。实际情况是仅在佛蒙特州政府的一台笔记本电脑上发现了源于俄罗斯的恶意软件，而且该电脑并未和电网相连，也没有证据显示是俄罗斯政府植入了该恶意软件。和其他许多媒体一样，《华盛顿邮报》随即推翻了自己的报道。

2. 奥巴马政府揭发重大黑客行径失败

为报复俄罗斯方面干扰美国大选，白宫驱逐了35名俄罗斯外交官，并就俄方的黑客行径发布报告。这份报告分析了两款恶意软件的样本，据称俄罗斯就是用它们展开了黑客行动。

但报告未能提出任何确凿证据，它所说的样本看来也只是互联网上广泛使用的普通软件。当然，白宫很可能特意保留了那些较为确切的信息，以免美国情报行动的细节遭到曝光。但对网络安全行家来说，这份报告一无是处。

3. 德国即将大选

德国正在加大网络安全防范力度，原因是德方普遍担心俄罗斯将故技重施，不断地发起黑客攻击并窃取信息，从而搅乱即将到来的德国大选。《金融时报》上周报道了此事。

德国安全部门官员表示，去年对德国联邦议会计算机网络的袭击同样来自于俄罗斯支持的黑客，其目的在于寻找影响大选的途径。本月的早些时候，德国总理安吉拉·默克尔警告说，有迹象表明来自于俄罗斯的网络攻击以及虚假信息可能“在竞选活动中产生一定作用”。

4. 特朗普表示将披露黑客事件详情

唐纳德·特朗普显然改变了策略——他表示将披露近期一些黑客事件的新信息，包括“别人不知道的东西”。此前，这位当选总统一直不理睬和黑客有关的问题，还说应该让这些成为过去。曾经声称“自己对黑客问题所知甚多”的特朗普这次则表示，会在本周二或周三公开上述信息。

5. 俄罗斯从哪找来这么多黑客

《纽约时报》刊登的特写文章可以让人们更多地了解俄罗斯如何组建起了这支制造了诸多麻烦的网络军队，其中介绍了征召普通网络罪犯的逸闻趣事，以及俄罗斯的黑客们如何组成了“地缘政治游击队”。绝对值得一读。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：詹妮