The US military conducted a successful offensive against a company from Russia. About this with reference to its own sources said the American newspaper The Washington Post. According to the newspaper, the special operation took place last fall during the mid-term elections to the American Congress. The object of the attack was the “Internet Research Agency” located in St. Petersburg, which WP calls the “troll factory”. As a result, the company was able to disconnect from the Internet.
"Sent offline"
The Internet Research Agency was simply sent offline, ”a well-informed source told The Washington Post, who, like others, agreed to discuss classified information on condition of anonymity. - They blocked access.
According to sources of the NBC television company, the US President Donald Trump personally approved the cyber attack.
According to The Washington Post, the attack against the "troll factory", "carried out using the proven National Security Agency, was the first example of a demonstration of power by the US Cyber Command under the new authority granted last year by President Trump’s decision and the Congress to expand the offensive potential. "
In August last year, President Trump signed a decree expanding the powers of the Cyber Command. In September, he signed a new US cyber security strategy, where he announced the transition to offensive actions against US enemies on the Internet. The need for active functioning of the US kibervoysk was also recorded in the law on the defense budget of the United States adopted last year.
The operation to disconnect the Russian company from the Internet was allegedly carried out by a team of several dozen employees of the Pentagon’s Cyber Command and the NSA, the Washington Post reports. In their area of responsibility - the opposition of Russia. The operation against the resident of our country was explained by the fight against possible interference in the American elections.
Commenting on the news of a possible American attack against the Internet Research Agency, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that, in general, “a huge number of cyber attacks are being organized from the territory of the United States to various Russian organizations in relation to businesses and individuals”. Is no exception and the official website of the President of Russia.
The cybernetic command of the US Armed Forces was created in 2009. In 2019, $ 610 million was allocated from the US budget for its activities. Cyber Command is subordinated to the special forces of the Cyber Mission Force numbering 4,406 people. Also in the command structure works 1,520 military and civilian.
- Paul Nakasone
- Reuters
- © Carlos Barria
In an interview for the first quarterly issue of the Joint Forces Quarterly magazine, the head of Cyber Command and the NSA General Paul Nakasone noted that the United States should move to active action on the Internet.
"Our forces must act against our enemies on their virtual territory," the US military emphasized.
Real threat
Colonel FAPSI in retirement, an expert on Internet intelligence Andrei Masalovich told in an interview with RT that the nature of cyber attacks by the United States, if it really took place, was of an “arbitrary” nature.
“The object to be attacked by the Americans was chosen arbitrarily on unsubstantiated accusations,” says Masalovich. - The Internet is a "draw" country with a population of 1.5 billion people, where there is no legal framework and the foundations of an evidence base. Therefore, there are no clear reasons for the Americans to suspect the Troll Factory of something ”.
According to experts, such operations can be a warm-up before more serious attacks.
Well-known Russian entrepreneur in the field of information technology, CEO of Ashmanov and Partners Igor Ashmanov, argues that the United States may try to disconnect Russia from the Internet.
“This is really possible,” said Ashmanov in a conversation with RT. - They already did this when they wanted to listen to Syria, and then turned off all, allegedly by mistake. Americans turned off Visa and MasterCard payment systems for some of our banks. They disconnected the Crimea from the Internet services. This is a routine operation for them. They consider these technologies their own and use them as their own. There are two vulnerabilities: domain names and addressing and an encryption certificate that is used in all transactions (password entry, contacting the bank, public services). These certificates can be revoked. That is, you can disable, and there are examples. ”
Former presidential adviser on the Internet, German Klimenko, noted in an interview with RT that the United States can use the sanctions mechanism to fight with our country in the cyber sphere.
- Reuters
- © Heinz-Peter Bader
“The most annoying thing the Americans could do to us is to prohibit Internet providers to cooperate with Russia. After that there will be a shutdown of foreign channels. For example, if Rostelecom is put on the sanctions list, no one can work with it, ”Klimenko said.
As Alexey Lukatsky, an expert on cyber security, noted in a conversation with RT, it is “undoubtedly possible” to impede the work of the Internet in Russia from the outside.
“To do this, it is enough to cut the cables that lead from one state to another. In addition, you can divide the domains that are issued in a particular country, and they will no longer be visible from other states, ”Lukatsky said. - It is also possible to block the traffic that comes from the country in the form of various filters by certain manipulations. Thus, it is possible to disconnect the whole state from the Internet, and the smaller this state, the easier it is to do. In Gabon and in the Congo, at the time of the elections, the Internet was turned off at the state level. ”
Leonid Savin, director of the Foundation for Monitoring and Forecasting, stressed in an interview with RT that the United States has a fairly wide range of tools to conduct subversive activities against Russia on the Internet.
“The US has not only cyber war, but also many different private companies that are engaged in security and have hacking capabilities. The CIA cooperates directly with various hacker groups and invites them to work, ”said Savin.
Another activity is collaboration with colleagues around the world. So, the Washington Post notes, last fall, the US military from Cyber Command began active cooperation with colleagues from Ukraine, Macedonia and Montenegro to jointly fight with Russia.
“Over the years, serious cyber attacks are happening every day from the US and its allies, just not all are advertised,” Savin notes. “It is quite possible that at some point they will move on to attacks on vital Russian infrastructure.”
Digital sovereignty
On February 12, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a draft law on ensuring the stable operation of the Russian segment of the Internet. The media dubbed it the "sovereign Internet law." In the explanatory note to the document it is noted that it was “prepared taking into account the aggressive nature of the US National Cybersecurity Strategy adopted in September 2018.
- Russian State Duma
- RIA News
- © Vladimir Fedorenko
The CEO of the InfoWatch group of companies, co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, Natalya Kasperskaya, said in a conversation with RT that this bill is incorrectly presented as a project of separating Russia from the global web.
“The Internet will not be internal. There is a mistake already at the level of vocabulary. They say about the “law on the sovereign Internet” and that it will be “internal”. The law actually uses the words “autonomous regions”, but this is an Internet term, such autonomous regions already exist within the Russian Federation, ”explained Kasperskaya. - It has nothing to do with the autonomy of the Internet or its work in isolation from the world, we are talking about the fact that if our country is turned off the Internet from the outside, then it will continue to work. That is, it is about taking some preventive measures so that the RuNet would continue to work in the worst case - if we are denied access. ”
In turn, an expert in the field of information security, professor of the department of jurisprudence, intellectual property and forensic examination of MSTU. Bauman Vitaly Vekhov believes that our country is actively preparing to resist attacks on the Internet.
“Accordingly, 6-7 years before this moment ... Russia and its law enforcement agencies, law enforcement agencies, special services, and lawmakers are quite thoroughly prepared for this possible threat. Just a few years ago, every year we had relevant exercises on the possible technical disconnection of the Russian segment and all users from the global computer network, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.
According to Leonid Savin, protecting its Internet space, Russia is on the beaten path.
Previously, China began to create a content filtering system and protect the autonomous operation of the Internet. The need for a sovereign Internet in 2011 was stated by the creator of the “great Chinese firewall” Fan Binxing. In 2014, PRC Chairman Xi Jingping proclaimed the right of each state to its sovereign Internet. And in 2016, following the visit of Vladimir Putin to China, the leaders of Russia and the PRC signed a joint statement, declaring support for "the principle of respect for state sovereignty in the information space."
“The adoption of the law on the autonomous work of the Internet is a step, though belated, but true,” says Leonid Savin. “We need to create a national Internet with the ability to communicate abroad.”
According to the expert, such a system will not restrict the freedom of Russians in cyberspace.
“This is not connected with the infringement of the rights of citizens. Certain filters will simply be created that will track cyber attacks against our state, ”Savin said.
In turn, a professor at Moscow State University. Mv Lomonosov Andrei Manoylo believes that the defense in cyberspace should prefer the attack.
“With regard to cyber warfare, there is only one recipe - a system for the timely detection, prevention and suppression of cyber attacks from abroad. And the best defense is attack. This is their own counter-kiebertaki, ”Manoylo said in an interview with RT.