US cyber attack: Trump says cyberattack ‘is under control’, downplays Russia’s role

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump on Saturday played down a massive cyber attack on US government agencies, declaring it “under control” and undermining his own administration’s assessment that Russia was to blame.
“I have been fully informed and everything is well under control,” Trump tweeted in his first public comments on the attack, adding that “Russia Russia Russia is the priority song when something happens” and suggested without offering evidence that China “can” too. be involved.

“There could also have been a hit to our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupt embarrassment to America,” he added, in his latest unfounded indictment of massive fraud in the November 3 vote, won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump’s response came a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview that the attack, which cyber experts say could have a far-reaching impact and take months to unravel, was “quite clearly” the work of Russia.
“There was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code within US government systems,” Pompeo told the Mark Levin Show on Friday.
He was referring to the widely used security software from the Texas company SolarWinds.
“This was a very significant effort,” Pompeo added, “and I think now we can say quite clearly that it was the Russians who participated in this activity.”
Russia has denied its involvement in the attack.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, without identifying the source of the attack, said Thursday that the attack presents a “serious risk” and that thwarting it would be “highly complex.”
President-elect Joe Biden has expressed “great concern” over the violation, while Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican, blamed Russia and criticized what he called the “inexcusable silence” from the White House.
Among the government agencies affected, according to media reports, are the Department of State, the Treasury, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Department of Energy and the National Administration of Nuclear Security, which manages the arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Microsoft said Thursday that it had notified more than 40 customers affected by the malware, which security experts say could allow attackers unlimited network access to key government systems, power grids and other public services.
Approximately 80 percent of affected customers are in the United StatesSaid Microsoft president Brad Smith in a blog post, with victims also found in Belgium, Brittany, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
“The number and location of victims is sure to continue to grow,” Smith said.
NATO said Saturday that it was checking its computer systems but had found no “evidence of compromise.”
The European Commission said on Saturday that it had not found any intrusions in the computer system but was “analyzing the situation.”