Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to the president of the United States, Joe Biden, promised this Sunday that there will be retaliation if it is confirmed that Russia was behind the massive cyberattack on Ukraine, as Kiev assures.
Hours after the Ukrainian government assured that “all the evidence” points to Moscow orchestrating the cyberattack, Sullivan avoided confirming that point and said that Washington is still working to identify those responsible for what happened.
“If it turns out that Russia is hitting Ukraine with cyberattacks, and if that continues for a while, we will work with our allies on the appropriate response,” Biden’s adviser said during an interview with CBS News.
The cyberattack targeted some 70 web, including the sites of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education and Science, and the Service for Emergency Situations, which remained was ra of service.
Microsoft confirmed this Saturday that it had detected a “malware” operation (evil code) directed at government and private computer networks in Ukraine that could render them “unusable” and poses a “risk high”.
It is not clear if last week’s cyberattack is related to the “malware” that Microsoft claims to have detected, whose characteristics do not correspond to the activity of “other known groups”.
The malicious code identified by Microsoft could have been deployed on the same dates that talks between Russia and the United States stalled and NATO regarding the accumulation of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, according to The New York Times.
Sullivan stressed this Sunday that the United States will do “everything it can to defend and protect the networks against the type of destructive ‘malware’ that Microsoft has warned about”.
He insisted that the United States and its NATO allies will impose “severe economic consequences” on Russia if it invades Ukraine, but they are also prepared if Moscow decides to continue negotiations with the West.
“Early next week we will have more to say about the next steps in diplomacy” to resolve the crisis of Ukraine, added the adviser.
According to Washington and Kiev, Russia accumulates some 100.000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine and plans to invade the country this winter, an intention that Moscow denies.
This week, the Pentagon accused Russia of orchestrating an operation to “look” like the Russians have been attacked, “as an excuse to enter” or invade Ukraine.
You may also be interested in:
–Tension rises: the US accuses Russia of trying to have a pretext to invade Ukraine
–Russia does not rules out military deployment in Venezuela and Cuba if tension with the US continues to grow
–USA. does not see “relevant progress” in the upcoming dialogue with Russia