By Biden Administration to Launch Cyber Attacks on Russia
The Biden administration is preparing a series of aggressive cyber attacks on Russia in a major shift in tactics designed as a warning shot to rival powers.
The attack, which is expected in the next fortnight, is in retaliation for the SolarWinds hack, the large-scale infiltration of American government agencies and corporations discovered late last year that was traced back to the Kremlin.
The US will not target civilian structures or networks, but the hack is instead designed as a direct challenge to Mr Putin, Russia’s President, and his cyber army, The Telegraph understands.
The White House confirmed it will take “a mix of actions” – both “seen and unseen” – although it did not provide specifics on when and how it would do so.
Any such move would mark a different tact taken by previous administrations, which have largely acted defensively against Moscow’s cyber warfare. Donald Trump took a much more cautious approach on Russia, being careful never to directly criticise or challenge the regime.
“I actually believe that a set of measures that are understood by the Russians, but may not be visible to the broader world, are actually likely to be the most effective measures in terms of clarifying what the United States believes are in bounds and out of bounds, and what we are prepared to do in response,” Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, told the New York Times this week.
A senior Russian government source said they were anticipating the cyber attacks would come in the form of “large-scale information campaign” aimed at discrediting its coronavirus vaccine.
Russian officials are reportedly expecting “fake news” around the efficacy of its Sputnik-V vaccine, primarily targeted at the European countries which have given emergency approval to the shot such as Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia. Read Full Article >
