Russian dictatorial President Vladimir Putin should be shaking in his boots right about now after the United States Cyber Command confirmed that they have conducted multiple operations in support of Ukraine amid the dictator’s ongoing, devastating invasion and attack against the sovereign nation — signaling that the US will not back down.
A new report from CNN cites an interview that General Paul Nakasone gave to Sky News, revealing that the US Cyber Command has successfully conducted several cyber operations in direct connection to the States’ efforts to assist Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing, deadly war.
“We’ve conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum; offensive, defensive, [and] information operations,” Nakasone confirmed, though the cyber command official declined to give any deeper details into the actions.
CNN notes in their report that it is extremely rare for US military officials to even acknowledge the existence of hacking operations on a public scale at all.
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President Joe Biden has stated since the Russian invasion and attack on Ukraine that the United States would not directly engage with the Russian military in relation to the war against Ukraine. When questioned as to whether these hacking operations would constitute an engagement with the Russian military, by the US military, the White House said that it does not.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained, “We don’t see it as such.”
The cyber attacks against Russian forces should not, and likely did not, come as a surprise, as the White House has been warning the Russian government for months now that the United States can and would retaliate via their own cyberattacks if it became necessary.
As it stands, there does not seem to be any cyberattacks hailing from Russia against the country of Ukraine or any of their allies, and it’s left analysts and experts puzzled and speculating as to the reason why. One defense official spoke with CNN and theorized that Russia’s reluctance may stem from an unwillingness to risk American retaliation.
The official went on to further explain that Russian President Vladimir Putin has undoubtedly faced a series of unexpected uphill battles in an invasion that he almost assuredly thought would go off without a hitch.
“I think that adding any kind of potential for US cyber into that mix … [is] probably factoring into their decision calculus,” the official explained.
“For Russia, understanding the full scope of US cyber combat power is a gap for them which leaves them unsure about opening this front, at least at this time,” the senior official added in speaking to CNN. “Cyber warfare is a new domain … It hasn’t been around long enough for any one nation-state to dominate it.”
You can read the full report from CNN here.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/The Presidential Press and Information Office, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
