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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.
Trump’s response was in sharp contradiction to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s comments the day before about the source and severity of the attack. Pompeo had said that the breach, which cyber experts say could have a far-reaching impact and take months to unravel, was “clearly” the doing 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 interviewer Mark Levin, alluding to the widely used security software from Texas firm 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.”
Trump’s tweets left administration spokesmen scrambling to reconcile the conflicting shots.
CNN said White House officials had made plans on Friday to release a statement blaming Russia directly, before it abruptly pulled out for unclear reasons.
Playing with threats
It is not the first time that the president has downplayed the apparent threats from Russia, beginning with his refusal to acknowledge Moscow’s interference in the 2016 elections despite the clear finding by US intelligence agencies.
Russia has denied involvement in the latest attack, but several officials inside and outside the US government have pointed the finger at Moscow and none at Beijing.
There was no immediate reaction from China.
Dramatic details about the extraordinarily broad attack have emerged even as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office next month amid already high tensions with Moscow.
Biden has expressed “great concern” about the violation.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Thursday that the attack represents a “serious risk” and thwarting it would be “highly complex.” He did not identify those behind.
On Friday, Senator Marco Rubio, a prominent Republican, tweeted that “the methods used to carry out the cyberattack are consistent with Russian cyber operations,” while adding that it was crucial to be safe.
“We cannot afford to make a mistake in attribution, because the United States must retaliate and not only with sanctions.”
Closing Consulates
In a move apparently planned before news of the cyberattack emerged, the State Department on Saturday confirmed plans to close the two remaining US consulates in Russia, in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, due to “continuing personnel challenges.”
Among the government agencies affected by the cyber attack, according to media reports, are the departments of State, Treasury, Commerce and National Security.
The National Institutes of Health were also attacked, at a time of great interest in coronavirus vaccines, as well as the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manage 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.
About 80 percent of affected customers are in the United States, Microsoft chairman Brad Smith said in a blog post, and victims are also in Belgium, Britain, 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.”
In one of his two tweets on Saturday, Trump attempted to link the cyber attack to his persistent efforts to undermine Biden’s election victory.
“There could also have been a hit to our ridiculous voting machines during the elections, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupt embarrassment to America.”
It was his latest unsubstantiated accusation of massive fraud in the Nov. 3 vote, and Twitter added a note stating that Biden had been certified by election officials as the winner. – AFP
