Some of the most serious cyberattacks on US infrastructure in the last two years have been traced back to Russian hackers. The SolarWinds hack, which infiltrated multiple government departments in 2020, the ransomware attack that forced the suspension of one of America's main fuel pipelines for several days last year, and another attack on JBS, one of the world's largest meat producers, are also on the list.
The US administration is on high alert for signs of Russian cyberattacks on banks and other financial institutions, following Moscow's broad strike on Ukraine on Thursday, which drew harsh international sanctions. According to a homeland security source with knowledge of the situation, Russia's cyberthreat to the United States is still active and has not changed since Russian President Vladimir Putin started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Threats to the national grid and big American institutions, according to the source, are a definite possibility. The Department of Justice and the FBI are both bracing for a potential attack and closely monitoring any strange cyber activity. The Department of Justice has a whole national security division devoted to this.
If Russia entered and hacked the US power system, intelligence believes that it will take between one and two weeks to restore full functioning. The US government has previously disclosed information indicating that Moscow mounted a vast hacking campaign to breach America's "critical infrastructure," which includes power plants, nuclear power plants, and water treatment plants.
Russia has also been accused of conducting online disinformation campaigns aimed at the United States, including efforts to meddle with US elections and cause unrest. This week, US authorities again accused Russian intelligence of spreading misinformation about Ukraine.
While many online attacks cannot be explicitly traced to the Russian state, Herb Lin, a senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, believes that hackers work with Russia's support.
"They don't operate directly for the Russian government, but they operate under a set of rules that says: 'you guys do what you want, don't target Russian stuff and we won't bother you,'" Lin said.
Even if Russian hackers do not directly target US organisations, Ukraine's reliance on foreign technology, according to Lin, can cause significant problems for the US. If the crisis in Ukraine worsens, "all the stuff in the US that directly aids the Ukrainian military machine becomes fair game for the Russians to target," Lin added.
