Next to China, Russia is probably the greatest security threat to the United States. And yet, under the Trump administration, "'U.S. Cyber Command has been ordered to "stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.'” You can draw your own conclusions. As for myself when I saw the headline I thought I'd gone to The Onion website instead.
Source: Gizmodo
It appears that the U.S. no longer considers Russia a significant cyber threat, according to multiple new reports on a drastic policy reversal that has taken hold under the new Trump administration.
The cybersecurity outlet The Record originally reported that under Trump’s new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Cyber Command has been ordered to “stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.” The outlet cites three anonymous sources who are familiar with the matter. The order reportedly does not apply to the National Security Agency.
The policy shift represents a complete 180-degree turn from America’s posture over the past decade, which has consistently considered Russia one of the top cybersecurity threats. Credible reporting and government investigations have shown that Russia has hacked into U.S. systems countless times.
The Guardian reported, rather ominously:
A person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity said analysts at the agency were verbally informed that they were not to follow or report on Russian threats, even though this had previously been a main focus for the agency.
The person said work that was being done on something “Russia-related” was in effect “nixed”.
“Russia and China are our biggest adversaries. With all the cuts being made to different agencies, a lot of cybersecurity personnel have been fired. Our systems are not going to be protected and our adversaries know this,” the person said.
The person added: “People are saying Russia is winning. Putin is on the inside now.”
Yes, inside the Oval Office.
Someone who knows a thing or two about Russian interference and Russian assets tweeted this:
