US suspends offensive cyber operations against Russia
The United States has suspended operations and planning of offensive cyber actions against Russia on Monday, according to US media such as CNN or The New York Times. The New York newspaper specifies that the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, has given the order to the cybernetic command and that the decision is “part of a broad effort to take the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to the negotiations with Ukraine and a new relationship with the US”.
The scope of the Defense Department’s decision is not clear, since there is a diffuse line between offensive and defensive operations in the cyberfall, the American newspaper adds.
The suspension is “an important blow” for the US security, says the official cnn, especially because the planning of such operations takes time and research. This pause in offensive cyber operations against Russia will make Washington more vulnerable to possible cyber attacks in Moscow, which has a formidable group of computer pirates capable of interrupting the critical infrastructure of the United States and collecting sensitive intelligence, recalls the chain.
The suspension of operations and planning of the United States cyber command, the army offensive and defensive cyber unit, occurs when the administration directed by Donald Trump has sought a broader distension with Russia three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We do not comment, nor discuss cyber intelligence, plans or operations. There is no higher priority for Secretary Hegseth than the security of the combatant in all operations, including the cyber area,” a high defense official told CNN. But “it is not uncommon for the Pentagon Pause that are potentially destabilizing or provocative for negotiations (with Russia), including cybernetics,” he said, meanwhile to CNN, Jason Kikta, a former cyber command official.
“Although if a pause in planning was also ordered, that could make the offensive options become obsolete and, therefore, not viable,” he said. “Any prolonged period without verifying access and updating planning runs the risk of losing that access or missing a critical change,” Kikta said, added that he was not personally aware of any change in the state of the operations of the cyber command.
The Kremlin considers cyberspace as an opportunity in front of the US, since it can excavate in American critical infrastructure and try to influence the country’s elections. Meanwhile, American military and intelligence hackers have intensified their actions in recent years against Russian cybercriminals and intelligence agents.
Since 2016, when Russia used bots, trolls and computer pirates to try to influence the elections in favor of Trump, Moscow has repeated that strategy in some way in all US presidential elections, according to US officials to the chain.
The cyber command was established more than a decade ago, in part to respond to the threats of Russia and other foreign powers and has evolved considerably since its creation, becoming a force of several thousand computer agents who carry out offensive and defensive missions. (EFE)
