The U.S. Cyber ​​Command has made several forays into Russia’s electrical infrastructure in recent months, according to a new report in The New York Times. Officials the post spoke to called the moves a warning to Russia that the United States is willing to operate more aggressively in this field to deter potential cyberattacks.
According to the Times“Officials described the previously unreported deployment of US computer code within Russia’s network and other targets.” A senior intelligence official told the Times that they “have become much, much more aggressive in the last year”, and that they are “doing things on a scale that we had 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 United States has launched any kind of attack.
“He’s gotten much, much more aggressive in the last year.”
Officers say Times that the US has been investigating the country’s power grid since 2012, and that those efforts have intensified significantly in recent months, sending “potentially paralyzing malware into the Russian system at a depth and with an aggressiveness never before seen. had tried “.
American officials have spoken of the need to be able to launch a cyberattack against the Russian government if the need arises. the Times It says that Cyber ​​Command did not describe what actions it had specifically taken with its new authorization. It also notes that the agency may conduct operations with the authorization of the Secretary of Defense, without the approval of the President.
The recently disclosed actions parallel those the Cyber ​​Command took in November 2018 to eliminate operations by state-linked trolls, such as the Internet Investigation Agency, ahead of midterm elections. Those operations reportedly disconnected the group and they were unable to access the Internet, and was one of the most aggressive actions made public after the Department of Defense authorized the Command to carry out more offensive campaigns in June.
The efforts appear to be part of a move by the Trump Administration to deter potential attacks by showing that the US is willing to carry out a cyberattack. At a conference earlier this week, National Security Advisor John Bolton said the US responded against the choice of “top priority last year,” and was ready to impose high costs on anyone who will try until “[got] point.”
