Cyberattack on the United States: Trump minimizes intrusion and Russia's role
US President Donald Trump on Saturday played down the massive cyber attack that targeted US computer networks and Russia's supposed role in a series of tweets. The suspicions of American IT experts, however, converge on Moscow.
Like an air of deja vu. US President Donald Trump minimized the scope of the cyberattack on US computer systems on Saturday, December 19, while clearing Moscow. His own Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, himself a former head of the CIA, had pointed the finger at Russia for this cyberattack which was in fact motivated by a vast espionage operation.
"The cyberattack is much more prominent in the Fake News media than in reality," Donald Trump tweeted. "Everything is under control. Russia, Russia, Russia, that's the priority slogan when anything happens", even if, according to him, "it could be China (it is possible!)".
The American president, who has still not acknowledged his defeat in the presidential election on November 3, took the opportunity to reaffirm without proof that fraud had affected the ballot.
"There could also have been an attack on our ridiculous voting machines during the election that I won hands down, it's clear now, which makes it even more of a shame for the United States," he said. he wrote in a tweet immediately accompanied by a warning from Twitter on the result of the presidential election, won by Democrat Joe Biden.
The estimated extent of the cyberattack continues to expand as new victims are discovered beyond the United States, raising fears of the risks of espionage.
The suspicions of computer security experts converge on Moscow, and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, formalized this accusation on Friday.
"It was a very important undertaking, and I think we can now say quite clearly that it was the Russians who engaged in this activity," he said.
The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
Russia has firmly denied being involved in this affair. "Russia does not conduct offensive operations in cyberspace," the Russian embassy in Washington said.
"Everyone assesses the damage"
The hackers succeeded in compromising the Orion software of the American firm SolarWinds, used for the management and the supervision of computer networks of large companies or administrations.
John Dickson of security firm Denim Group says many potentially vulnerable private companies are scrambling to strengthen their protections, going so far as to consider completely rebuilding their servers.
"It's so big that everyone is assessing the damage right now," he told AFP. "This is a serious blow to confidence in the state and in critical infrastructure."
The National Security Agency, which oversees US military intelligence, has called for increased vigilance to prevent hacker access to key military or state systems.
[ 🇺🇸 ÉTATS-UNIS ]
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) December 16, 2020
🔸 Lors de la récente cyber-attaque imputée à des pirates informatiques russes, certains des secrets les plus profonds des États-Unis ont peut-être été volés [nucléaire, nouvelles armes...]. Il faudra des mois voire des années pour évaluer les dégâts. https://t.co/uugI4ZN5zS
In fact, experts underline the threat that this cyberattack represents for national security, not only in the event of a takeover of crucial infrastructures, but also in the event of access to the management of electricity distribution networks or other public services.
According to information known at this point, the hackers managed to penetrate the internal emails of the US Treasury and Department of Commerce.
The Energy Ministry confirmed Friday to have been affected, while ensuring that the malware had spared its most sensitive missions, including the branch responsible for the security of the nuclear arsenal.
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to make this cyberattack "a priority" as soon as he takes office on January 20.
