This is how serious the attack by Russian hackers is, and Donald Trump is silent

This is how serious the attack by Russian hackers is, and Donald Trump is silent

Around 18,000 companies and government agencies were attacked. Experts speak of the most important case in modern history.

Russia, Russia, Russia. After nearly three years of investigation by Special Envoy Robert Mueller and impeachment, Americans seemed fed up with cyberattacks from the former “evil empire.” To this day, it is also controversial how damaging these attacks really were.

With today’s cyber attacks, these doubts are unfounded. They are much worse than initially thought. Most likely, the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR is behind this, the CIA counterpart, and the scope is gigantic. Around 18,000 businesses and government agencies are affected, and there may be many more.

Therefore, the experts agree in their assessment. Tom Bossert, Trump’s former Homeland Security chief, wrote in a “New York Times” column: “The scope of this ongoing attack cannot be overestimated.” David Sanger, the renowned “New York Times” cyber expert, even speaks of “one of the biggest failures of the secret services in modern times.”

What happened? The Russian hackers were extremely smart. They managed to introduce malicious code into software from a well-known manufacturer, SolarWinds. His program, called Orion, is used by many companies and government agencies.

As is often the case with software, Orion is updated regularly. The hackers managed to manipulate these updates and thus penetrate the networks without being noticed. They went to great lengths over the years by only using internet domains that are no longer used in the US and they refrained from using hacking tools that were once common. The Russians have also ignored the informal rules of spying in cyberspace.

Successfully. The hacker attacks were discovered only by chance by specialists from cybersecurity company FireEye. Before that, they could, and this is devastating, frolic undetected on social media for about six months. Therefore, the damage is immense. “It will be years before we know for sure which networks the Russians control and which networks they just stay on,” says Bossert.

The Russians are said to have even tried to break into the computer networks that control nuclear weapons. They do not appear to have been successful. Bossert fears, however, that the attacks may serve more than mere espionage:

Although the scale of the attack by Russian hackers increases every day, the president reacts with a thunderous silence. Donald Trump incessantly tweets about the alleged election rigging, but has so far said nothing about the attacks.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is trying to downplay these attacks and portray China as a much more dangerous enemy. Pompeo joins the China hysteria that Fox News and other conservative outlets have been spreading for weeks.

President-elect Joe Biden, however, responded. Addressing Vladimir Putin, he made it clear that he would not accept these attacks: “I want to make this clear,” Biden said. “My government will make cybersecurity a top priority at all levels of administration. And we will address this on the first day of our mandate. ”

He also added that those responsible for the attacks should expect “substantial costs.” For his part, the Russian president does not want to hear anything.

Tom Bossert, on the other hand, demands, probably to no avail, that Trump can still elicit a reaction in his final days in office. He closes his comment in the “New York Times” with the words: “We are sick, distracted and now they attack us from cyberspace. Leadership is crucial. “