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The United States on Friday accused Russia of being behind a massive cyber attack that targeted other countries by targeting them. “This is a very important process and I think we can now make it clear that it was the Russians who were involved in this operation,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Political commentator Mark Levine, during a show on The Mark Levine Show, denounced a large-scale move by the head of American diplomacy, especially using software, to “infiltrate US government institutions.”
The Russian embassy in Washington denied that Russia had carried out any offensive operations in cyberspace.
“Severe” vulnerability
Cyberotax’s scope continues to expand as it renews fears about the dangers of intelligence and discovers new victims beyond the United States.
“It simply came to our notice then. Republican nominee Marco Rubio, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News on Friday. Like the previous day’s government, he spoke of “a serious threat to the federal government, local communities, vital infrastructure and the private sector”.
Microsoft on Thursday evening informed more than 40 customers affected by the software used by the hackers, which will allow unrestricted access to the victims’ networks. “About 80% of these customers are in the United States, but at the moment our work has identified victims in many countries,” Microsoft chairman Brad Smith told the Computer Company blog. . Countries involving Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“The number of victims and the number of affected countries will continue to increase, of course,” “creating a serious technological impact on the United States and the world,” warned Brad Smith. “It simply came to our notice then that this was not the case in the digital age. “
An “act of war”
If not before, the U.S. government discovered this March attack last week. If Senator Rubio thinks there is a foreign government behind this act of “patience”, “sophistication” and “well-funded”, he was careful not to go any further. “You have to be sure when you nominate someone because” it’s like an act of war, “he said.
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But the suspicions of computer security experts converge in Moscow, and Mike Pompeo formalized the allegation on Friday. According to James Andrew Lewis, center of the Think Tank for Strategic and International Studies, “there are only a handful of countries with the expertise and resources to carry out such an attack, and Russia is one of them.” Mike Pompeo on Monday recommended the involvement of Russian actors, as such ministers sparked a series of attempts to break into the “networks” of US ministries and institutions.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney on Thursday downplayed the White House’s unforgivable silence and inaction, saying “it is as if Russian bombers have flown over our country several times.”
His Democrat colleague Mark Warner also ruled that “the presidency does not seem to care about the gravity of the situation and is too short to give an answer.” President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to make it a “priority” when he takes office on January 20.
Many ministries have been affected
John Dixon of Denim Group, a security company, says many vulnerable private companies are pushing to strengthen their security, which goes to the extent of considering completely rebuilding their servers. “It’s so big, everyone is now assessing the damage,” he said. “It’s a blow to confidence in the state and important infrastructure.”
The hackers succeeded in compromising the Orion software of Solar Winds, an American company used to manage and oversee the computer networks of large companies or administrations.
The National Security Agency, which oversees US military intelligence, called on hackers to be vigilant to prevent access to key military or government agencies. In fact, experts underscore the threat that this Cypriot represents for national security, not only in the event of the acquisition of vital infrastructure, but also in the case of access to control of power supply networks or other services. General.
According to information known at this point, hackers were able to hack into the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Department’s internal emails. While confirming that the malware has neglected its most important functions, including the branch responsible for the security of the nuclear arsenal, the Ministry of Energy confirmed that it has been affected.
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