US State Secretary Pompeo claims US Senator criticises it as 'Act of War'

Washington/Moscow: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, openly accepted a Russian hand in the cyberattack in the United States saying, ‘There was an attempt to intrude into the US government departments using third-party software. Intrusions have also been reported from private companies, other countries and companies. This is a massive attack and based on the information available, and it can be firmly concluded that the attack originated in Russia.’

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) declared a few days ago that a cyberattack was launched on computer networks in the US finance and trade departments. Senior officials, analysts and experts had expressed suspicion that there was a Russian hand in the attack. After that, within a few days, it was realised that the extent of the cyberattack was really huge and it is claimed that this is the biggest cyberattack in history. It has been revealed that along with seven important US government departments, private companies like Microsoft, FireEye and SolarWinds were targeted in the attack. Against this background, the US Secretary of State openly accepting the Russian hand in the cyberattack becomes sensational. There have been numerous cyberattacks on the United States in the last decade, and it has been exposed that countries like Russia, China Iran and North Korea were behind these attacks.

These cyberattacks have been noted in many government reports. But this is the first instance of a senior Secretary from the US government, pointing a finger to Russian for having a hand in the attack, within days of the attack. Pompeo also warned, while blaming Russia with the cyberattack, that Russia and President Vladimir Putin feature very high on the list of threats to the lifestyle and freedom of the US people.

Intense reactions have been received even from US Congressmen about this attack on the US government and private companies. Charles Koons, Senator from the Democrat party, fired a salvo that this is not only an attack but an ‘Act of War’. Congressman Jason Crow claimed that this is the biggest ever cyberattack on the United States and can be compared to the Pearl Harbour attack. The leading cyber companies in the United also have said that the extent of the Russian attack is phenomenal and pointed out that complete information has not been received.

As per the information given by the US agencies, cyberattacks were started from the month of March. Following the cyberattack on the US company, FireEye, information regarding the cyberattacks on the government departments was exposed.