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A hot potato: Even before the invasion of Ukraine, the US had long considered Russia its main cybersecurity threat. But it appears that the designation no longer applies. The move comes as Trump attempts to normalize the relationship with Russia and President Putin, and follows a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
According to a US official familiar with the matter (via The Record), new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered US Cyber Command to “stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.”
The official said that Hegseth gave the order to the head of the command, Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, in late February. The order does not apply to the National Security Agency, which Haugh also leads.
This is the second incident suggesting the US no longer considers Russia a cybersecurity threat. Last week, Liesyl Franz, deputy assistant secretary for international cybersecurity at the state department, said in a speech that the US was concerned about cyberthreats from some states, naming only China and Iran, not Russia.
The Guardian writes that a recent memo at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) set out new priorities for the agency. While China was mentioned as a digital threat, there was no mention of Russia in the memo.
A source familiar with the matter told the publication that analysts at the agency were verbally informed not to follow or report on Russian threats, despite previously being a focus for the agency.
“Russia and China are our biggest adversaries. With all the cuts being made to different agencies, a lot of cybersecurity personnel have been fired. Our systems are not going to be protected and our adversaries know this,” the person said.
“People are saying Russia is winning. Putin is on the inside now,” they added.
A person who previously worked on US joint task forces tracking and combating Russian cyberthreats said Russia poses as possibly the most significant nation state threat actor. “Not to diminish the significance of China, Iran or North Korea, but Russia is at least on par with China as the most significant cyber threat,” they said.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Cisa remains committed to addressing all cyber threats to US critical infrastructure, including from Russia. “There has been no change in our posture or priority on this front,” McLaughlin said.
There have been numerous instances of Russian-backed hackers attacking US infrastructure over the last few years. Last April, one such group targeted the water system of Muleshoe, north Texas. Experts believe this was a test to see just how vulnerable these types of targets are and how they respond following an attack.
In 2021, Microsoft warned that more than half of all nation-state cyberattacks came from Russia, and that Russian hackers succeed in one out of every three attacks.
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