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| America is punishing Russia in response to the SolarWinds hack |
The White House responded to the SolarWinds hackers with an order directing the US government to expel ten diplomats in Washington, DC, including members of the intelligence community, and to impose a series of new sanctions on Russian personnel and assets.
The decree also introduced important new restrictions on Russia's national debt, making it difficult for the country's government to raise funds and support its currency.
Biden has formally condemned the Russian-backed cyber attack organization Cozy Bear, which was the main culprit in the SolarWinds hack.
The FBI, the National Security Agency, the Cyber Security Agency, and the Department of Infrastructure Security have also issued a joint cybersecurity warning indicating that Russian intelligence agencies are using these vulnerabilities to disrupt networks.
The Treasury Secretary said: The goal of the Treasury Department is to try to confuse Russian leaders, officials, intelligence agencies and their agents who are trying to disrupt the US election process. It is the beginning of a new American campaign against Russia. Malicious behavior.
The vulnerability was discovered last December and damaged more than 250 federal agencies and companies after a network security company called SolarWinds was hacked.
CIA officials firmly believed that the attack was carried out by Russian foreign intelligence officials.
The sanctions also targeted 32 people suspected of participating in government influence during the 2020 elections. This is a repeat of the 2016 influence movement that swept the Clinton campaign and members of the Democratic National Committee.
One of them (Alexei Gromov) is Alexei Gromov, the deputy chief of staff in the Russian president's government who is supposed to lead the Kremlin's efforts to increase tension in the United States by discrediting the US 2020 election process.
Several private cybersecurity companies in Russia have also been sanctioned for supporting the government's efforts.
The Biden administration has worked hard since February to respond to such attacks and to change federal IT practices to prevent similar attacks in the future.
In March, a White House spokesperson described security shortcomings caused by the federal government's modernization and serious flaws in network security technology.
The White House said in a statement: The Biden administration has made clear that the United States hopes to build a stable relationship with Russia, but we have also made it clear, publicly and privately, that we defend our national interests and we have paid for that. price. these. He tried to harm our Russian government.