Daily US Times: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Russia was “pretty clearly” behind the grave cyberattack, which was uncovered last week, against the United States, the first administration official to publicly tie Russia to the widespread intrusion at a time when President Trump has kept silent on the failure to protect government and private-sector computer networks.
It is not yet clear exactly what the hackers were seeking, but experts say it could include blueprints for advanced weaponry, COVID-19 vaccine-related research, nuclear secrets and information for dossiers on key government and industry leaders.
In an interview late Friday with radio talk show host Mark Levin, Pompeo said: “We’re still unpacking precisely what it is, and I’m sure some of it will remain classified.”
“But suffice it to say there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of US government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well. This was a very significant effort, and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.”
The Kremlin has denied the accusations abut the cyberattack saying it had “nothing to do” with the hacking.
Brian Morgenstern, the Deputy White House press secretary, told reporters Friday that national security adviser Robert O’Brien has sometimes been leading multiple daily meetings with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the intelligence agencies, looking for ways to mitigate the hack.
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