The Biden administration has imposed the first significant sanctions in several years against the Russian economy and officially names the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service for the Solar Winds hack and the Kremlin for their work to influence the 2016 presidential election. Via the Washington Post:
The administration also sanctioned six Russian companies that support Russian spy services’ cyberhacking operations and will expel 10 intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover in the United States.
The measures are an effort to make good on President Biden’s vow to hold Moscow accountable for a series of operations, including the hacking operation commonly known as SolarWinds, which compromised nine federal agencies and about 100 private firms.
“Our view is that no single action that we will take or could take in and of itself could directly alter Russia’s malign behavior,” principal deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said. “But this is going to be a process that is going to take place over time, and it will involve a mix of significant pressure and finding ways to work together.”
