俄罗斯卫星通讯社网站3月8日讯

纽约时报引用美国政府渠道透露的信息，拜登政府正计划对俄发动秘密网络攻击，以报复所谓的俄罗斯2020年末对美政府机构和企业的“太阳风”黑客攻击。据称，首次主要行动将在近三周内实施，重点对俄罗斯总统普京、情报机构、军事部门相关的网络进行秘密攻击，攻击范围不会扩大到其它国家。在美国对俄实施网络攻击同时，还将伴有经济制裁。2月下旬，美国国家安全顾问杰克沙利文称，针对去年的太阳风黑客攻击，白宫将采用可见和不可见的组合手段进行报复回应。沙利文称，美国准备对俄罗斯采取报复措施也就需要几周，不用几个月。报复的目的是让俄罗斯明白美国在网络空间领域的底线。俄罗斯坚决否认美国的指责，称这种行动将引发后续严重后果。

US Plans ‘Clandestine’ Cyberattacks on Russia to Retaliate Against SolarWinds Hack, Report Says

08.03.2021 Get short URL  by Oleg Burunov

Moscow points out that no evidence has been provided by Washington to back up its allegations of “Russian hackers” being behind last year’s SolarWinds breach.

The Biden administration plans to start retaliating against the alleged Russian hacking of American government agencies and corporations discovered in late 2020, The New York Times has cited unnamed US government sources as saying.

“The first major move is expected over the next three weeks, with a series of clandestine actions across Russian networks that are intended to be evident to President Vladimir Putin and his intelligence services and military, but not to the wider world”, the sources argued.

They added that apart from such actions, Washington is considering slapping economic sanctions on Russia, which would be combined with an executive order by President Joe Biden  “to accelerate the hardening of federal government networks after the Russian hacking, which went undetected for months until it was discovered by a private cybersecurity firm”.

The claims come after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News in late February that the White House’s response to last year’s SolarWinds hack “will include a mix of tools seen and unseen”.

Sullivan pledged that “it will be weeks, not months” before the US prepares retaliatory measures against Moscow, adding that Washington will “ensure that Russia understands where the US draws the line on this kind of activity”.

He spoke after Anne Neuberger, the US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, reiterated during a press briefing earlier last month that the US government continues to believe that the SolarWinds breach was “likely of Russian origin”.

American officials assert that Russian hackers are likely behind the massive cyberattack that targeted numerous US federal government entities and companies last year. Intruders reportedly used corrupted SolarWinds software to install malicious programmes.

Moscow has repeatedly rejected allegations that it had any involvement in the SolarWinds hacking operation.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, for his part, emphasised that “any accusations of Russia’s involvement are absolutely unfounded and are a continuation of the kind of blind Russophobia that is resorted to following any incident”.

In December 2020,then-President Donald Trump suggested that China rather than Russia may be responsible for the SolarWinds breach, adding that the scale of the cyberattacks had been exaggerated by the media and that the situation was under control.