Biden to Mull Options for Retaliating Hack: Sources

Date: 20 December 2020 - 21:10

News ID: ۸۵۶۷۱

WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President-elect Joe Biden’s team will consider several options to punish Russia for its suspected role in the unprecedented hacking of U.S. government agencies and companies once he takes office, from new financial sanctions to cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, people familiar with the matter say.
The response will need to be strong enough to impose a high economic, financial or technological cost on the perpetrators, but avoid an escalating conflict between two nuclear-armed Cold War adversaries, said one of the people familiar with Biden’s deliberations, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The overarching goal of any action, which could also include stepped-up counter cyber espionage efforts, would be to create an effective deterrence and diminish the potency of future Russian cyber spying, the person said.
The unfolding crisis - and the lack of visibility over the extent of the infiltration into the computer networks of federal agencies including the Treasury, Energy and Commerce Departments - will push to the front of Biden’s agenda when he takes office on Jan. 20.
President Donald Trump only acknowledged the hacking on Saturday almost a week after it surfaced, downplaying its importance and questioning whether the Russians were to blame.
The discussions among Biden’s advisers are theoretical at this point and will need to be refined once they are in office and have full view of U.S. capabilities.
Biden’s team will also need a better grasp of U.S. intelligence about the cyber breach before making any decisions, one of the people familiar with his deliberations said. Biden’s access to presidential intelligence briefings was delayed until about three weeks ago as Trump disputed the Nov. 3 election results.
With Trump taking no action, Biden’s team are concerned that in the coming weeks the president-elect may be left with only one tool: bluster, according to one of the people familiar with his options.
The response could be an early test of the president-elect’s promise to cooperate and consult more effectively with U.S. allies, as some proposals likely to be put before Biden could hit the financial interests or infrastructure of countries friendly to the United States, a person familiar with the matter said.
The massive data breach, first reported by Reuters, enabled hackers to explore the networks of government agencies, private companies and think-tanks for months.
Moscow has denied involvement.