U.S. and international sanctions have already significantly weakened Russia’s economy. | Getty
How could Obama secretly hack Russia?
Cybersecurity experts say the Obama administration is not likely to pursue cloak-and-dagger steps against Russia now.
The Obama administration wasn’t shy Thursday about implying that the U.S. may stealthily strike back at Russia over its election-year meddling with more than just the financial and diplomatic punishments it publicly announced.
"These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities," President Barack Obama said in a statement after the White House revealed its retaliationfor a series of hacks that felled major Democratic groups and campaign operatives. "We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized.”
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The president didn’t elaborate, but it is well-known that the U.S. cyber arsenal is the best in the world, stocked with classified capabilities for clandestinely interfering with adversaries’ networks. Covert U.S. cyber responses could range from erasing Russian government databases, to leaking embarrassing documents on Kremlin officials, to releasing copies of Moscow’s elite hacking tools.
There are only two known instances so far of the U.S. using offensive cyber techniques. Nearly a decade ago, the so-called Stuxnet virus took out nearly 1,000 of Iran's 6,000 nuclear centrifuges. More recently, the Obama administration launched a sustained U.S. military cyber campaign against the Islamic State.
But cybersecurity experts — including some former government hackers who would have conducted these type of operations — cautioned that the Obama administration is not likely to pursue cloak-and-dagger steps against Russia now. They explained that such moves either risk escalation, reduce U.S. surveillance capabilities or exceed the traditional standard of proportionality in conflict.
Sourche: politico.com
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