The “Cyber Command”, the hacker unit of the US Armed Forces, has taken offensive measures to stop criminal groups that have launched cyber attacks against US companies, a unit spokesperson confirmed to CNN this Sunday (5).
The spokesman declined to specify what actions the Command took. But it’s one of Cyber Command’s first unequivocal recognitions, since the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline pipeline in May, that the US military is targeting criminal gangs who are holding the computer systems of US corporations hostage.
New comments from General Paul Nakasone, current head of Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, reported by the New York Times earlier on Sunday, signal that the US military is increasingly willing to hack criminals, not just actors that pose a threat to US infrastructure.
Security agencies across the US government accelerated their search for ransomware groups after hackers brought Colonial Pipeline, a major US fuel carrier and another major meat-processing company, to a standstill earlier this year.
A CNN reported in June that the US government had taken offensive measures in response to the ransomware, including compromise and surveillance of cybercriminal networks, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Nakasone said last month that the US government had “ridden a wave” against ransomware operators, including trying to cut off hackers’ funding sources.
Nakasone reiterated that message in an interview with the New York Times this weekend.
“Before, during and since then, with a number of elements of our government, we act and impose costs,” Nakasone told the newspaper. “This is an important piece that we must always be aware of.”
The US government’s counteroffensive against ransomware groups, many of which are based in Eastern Europe and Russia, also included indicting alleged extortionists and sanctioning a purse of cryptocurrencies accused of money laundering for hackers.
The White House has tried to pressure the Russian government to crack down on cybercriminals operating on Russian soil. Whether that will happen remains to be seen — Moscow often turns a blind eye to hackers who do not target Russian organizations, analysts say.
President Joe Biden will make a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Tuesday (7). The two will discuss cybersecurity, according to the White House, six months after Biden urged Putin to take action against hackers during a meeting in Geneva.
* Translated material. Read the original here.
Reference: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
