According to NBC News and a senior American intelligence official, US military hackers have penetrated Russia's electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin's command systems, to be ready to strike in case a cyber-attack is launched against the United States on the election day.
The US November 8 event could be used as a pretext to stage hostile actions towards Russia. The US government agencies are reported to take extraordinary measures, including the use of secret weapons, to prevent cyber-attacks.
Moscow wants an explanation. «If no official reaction from the American administration follows, it would mean state cyberterrorism exists in the US. If the threats of the attack, which were published by the US media, are carried out, Moscow would be justified in charging Washington», Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Vice President Joe Biden openly threatened Russia with a cyber-attack in a televised interview on October 16. Before the vice president’s statement, Sen. Cory Gardner, R-CO., said that he plans to introduce a bill that would impose sanctions on Russia.
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, put into question the conclusions that Russia was involved in the hacking activities.
Meanwhile, US media come up with one story after another dedicated to «cyber wars» with one country suspected of conducting subversive cyber activities against another in preparation for an all-out war in the domain where wars have never occurred.
So far, the only country with a record of conducting cyber-attacks on other nations is the United States itself. US military penetrated Iraqi networks during the 2003 invasion and cooperated with Israel to plant Stuxnet to subvert the operations of Iranian nuclear centrifuges in 2009-2010.
The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), a sub-unified command subordinate to Strategic Command, was created in 2009 at the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Fort Meade to centralize command of cyberspace operations.
It’s not attacks and malware only; the cyber domain can be used as for the purposes of information wars, including fake documents releases or bogus social media accounts created to spread misinformation.
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