US Cyber Command has reportedly been aggressively targeting Russia’s electrical grid
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
According to the Times , “officials described the previously unreported deployment of American computer code inside Russia’s grid and other targets.” One senior intelligence official told the Times that “it has gotten far, far more aggressive over the past year,” and that they are “doing things at a scale that we never contemplated a few years ago.” The efforts amount to what is described as a “persistent presence” within Russia’s infrastructure, and there is no indication that the US has actually launched any sort of attack.
Officials tell the Times that the US has been probing the country’s electrical grid since 2012, and that those efforts have stepped up significantly in recent months, sending “potentially crippling malware inside the Russian system at a depth and with an aggressiveness that had never been tried before.”
US officials have spoken about the need to be able to launch a cyberattack against the Russian government if the need arises. The Times says that Cyber Command didn’t outline what actions it had specifically undertaken with its newfound authorization. It also notes that the agency can undertake operations with authorization from the Secretary of Defense, without the approval of the President.
The newly-revealed actions parallel those that Cyber Command undertook in November 2018 to take down state-linked troll operations like the Internet Research Agency before the midterm elections. Those operations reportedly took the group offline and unable to access the internet, and it was one of the most aggressive actions made public after the Department of Defense authorized the Command to make more offensive campaigns in June.
The efforts appear to be part of a move by the Trump Administration deter potential attacks by demonstrating that the US is willing to delivering a cyber attack. At a conference earlier this week, National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the US made the response against election meddling their “highest priority last year,” and that they were ready to impose heavy costs on anyone who tried until they “[got] the point.”
Tags
Who is online
63 visitors
I don't know what to think of this... but I'm pretty sure it's significant.
There is no question that cyber attacks take place and will continue to do so indefinitely. Deterrence is important (a potential offensive move) but of course defense is more critical. I am confident the US government is all over cyber defense but hope they do so more competently than they administer in general.
I hope our cyber war division (you know we have one) operates completely independent of the current president. Honestly it would be far better if he didn't even know it exists.
Totally agree (sadly).
Well dealing with cyber issues both on defense and offense as well as hardening key parts of our grid vs EMP be it solar or nuke are an integral part of Trumps proposed and being set up space force. I’m glad that we have this deterrence vs. cyber attack by foreign powers. Also it’s good that Trump is using this to protect the integrity of our election process from foreign intelligence interference. Russia and China take notice...
I do enjoy good satire.
The funny thing is that the Pentagon decided to not tell trump about this operation because they were afraid he would tell Putin about it. That's just plain sad that our POTUS is seen as a security risk by his own administration.
This is terrible!
Let's hope Trumjp puts a stop to this ASAP!!
Oh I am sue he has already told them to cease ALL activity.
I really hope this is true.
I'd be upset if they weren't. The cyber war is the only one that matters going forward. The winner of all future war will be those who won in cyberspace before the actual shooting even started.