A top cybersecurity official Saturday warned that the U.S. is “already in a warfare state” with Russia and said it should prepare for cyberattacks coming out of Moscow.
The U.S. and its NATO allies have promised to hit Russia with swift and severe economic sanctions should the Kremlin violate Ukraine’s sovereignty with a military-led incursion. “If Russia does indeed go into the Donbas region and wave a flag…the United States has already promised a series of responses,” R.P. Eddy, CEO of cybersecurity firm Ergo, told a bipartisan group of governors.
“What is Russia’s next move? DHS blasted out the memo Sunday to U.S. critical infrastructure operators and state and local governments around the country, warning that “Russia maintains a range of offensive cyber tools that it could employ against U.S. networks” that make everything from planes to hospitals to dams and bridges operate.
Separately, a well-respected private cybersecurity firm leader warns that while “cyber espionage is already a regular facet of global activity, as the situation deteriorates, we are likely to see more aggressive information operations and disruptive cyberattacks within and outside of Ukraine.”
In a press briefing late on Wednesday, Biden told reporters that the US would respond with its own cyber-attacks if Russia continues to hit Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, reports ZDNet. “For example, it’s one thing to determine that if they (Russia) continue to use cyber efforts, well, we can respond the same way, with cyber,” the US president was quoted as saying.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki later confirmed to The Daily Beast that if Russia continued to launch cyber-attacks, they would be answered with a “decisive, reciprocal, and united response.” Ukrainian officials have confirmed that dozens of systems within at least two government agencies were wiped during the cyber-attack. Russia has repeatedly been accused of cyber-attacks against Ukraine amid escalated tension between them.
