US Cyber Command plans to launch cyberattacks on Russia, US daily

Washington: The US Cyber Command is planning to launch cyberattacks on Russia given the US Presidential elections scheduled to be held in 2020. Claims have surfaced of Russia launching cyberattacks on the US systems to interfere in the US Presidential elections in 2016. A leading US daily, therefore, stated that to prevent Russian interference in the upcoming elections, the US agencies were planning to cripple the Russia systems with cyberattacks.

The US daily ‘The Washington Post’ published the report quoting an official in the US administration as the source. As per the report, personal information of all the close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin was collected. The data would be published if Russia attempted any interference in the US elections. Also, US officials claimed that it was a precaution the United States was taking to prevent Russia from interfering in the current US Presidential elections.

The US officials indicated that President Putin would not be targeted in the plan, as information regarding him could amount to incitement. The US daily further stated that the US agencies would use the information to pressurise the close associates of President Putin. The US was trying to collect information that was critical and private which would deliver the appropriate message to the Russian officials and leaders, Washington Post reported.

Six months ago, ‘The New York Times’ – a leading daily in the United States, published a report that the US agencies had initiated cyberattacks on Russia. The daily stated that the US cyber agencies had inserted ‘Cyber Code’ in the Russian power grid and other vital systems as part of the cyberattacks. The daily also claimed that the information was published only after talking to the present and former officials in the US administration. What’s more, it asserted the attacks were meant to warn Russia.

The report received strong reactions from Russia. The Russian government levelled severe accusations against the US, saying that the attacks amounted to a declaration of cyberwar by the United States against the country. Russia’s presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov had even accepted that the effects of the cyberattacks were delivering shocks to the Russian economy.