By Lolita C. Baldor and David Klepper
Washington (AP)-The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, took a break from the offensive cyberials against Russia by the United States Cyber Command, which raises some efforts to deal with a key opponent, even if national security experts call on the United States to extend these capacities.
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, the break confirmed on Monday.
Hegseth’s decision does not affect the cyber operations carried out by other agencies, including the CIA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. But the Trump administration has also returned other efforts to the FBI and other agencies related to the fight against digital and cyber-men.
The pentagon decision, which was reported for the first time by the file, arises, because many national security and cybersecurity experts have urged greater investments in cyber-defense and offensive, especially since China and Russia have sought to interfere with the national economy, elections and security.
Republican legislators and national security experts have all called for greater offensive posture. During his confirmation audience for the Senate this year, CIA director John Ratcliffe said that American rivals have shown that cyberspionage – recovering sensitive information and disrupting American affairs and infrastructure – as an essential weapon of the modern arsenal.
“I want us to have all the tools necessary to attack our opponents in cyber community,” said Ratcliffe.
The cyber command supervises and coordinates the work of cybersecurity of the Pentagon and is known as the first American defense line in the cyberspace. It also provides offensive cyber operations for potential use against opponents.
The Hegseth directive arrived before Friday’s dust between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the oval office. It was not clear if the break was linked to a negotiation tactic by the Trump administration to push Moscow in a peace agreement with Ukraine.
Trump promised to end the war that started when Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago, and on Monday, he criticized Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of the conflict was “far”.
The White House did not immediately answer questions about HegSeth’s order.
Cyber-war is cheaper than traditional military force, can be done secretly and does not include the same risk of climbing or reprisals, which makes it an increasingly popular tool for nations that want to face the United States, but which cannot be traditional economic or military power, according to Snehal Antani, CEO of national security origin.
Cyberespionage can allow opponents to steal competitive secrets from American companies, obtain sensitive information or disrupt supply chains or systems that manage dams, water factories, traffic systems, private companies, governments and hospitals.
The Internet has also created new battlefields, because nations like Russia and China use disinformation and propaganda to undermine their opponents.
Artificial intelligence now makes it easier and cheaper than ever for anyone – whether it is a foreign nation such as Russia, China or North Korea or criminal networks – to intensify their large -scale cybergamous, said Antani. Correction of the code, translating disinformation or identifying the vulnerabilities of the network required once a human – now AI can make it a large part more quickly.
“We are entering this era of cyberlative economic war which is at the level of the nation state,” said Antani. “We were really difficult at that time when the offensive is much better than defense, and it will take some time for the defense to catch up.”
Meanwhile, the Attorney General Pam Bondi also dissolved a FBI working group focused on foreign influence campaigns, such as those of Russia used to target American elections in the past. And more than a dozen people who have worked on election safety at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Agency were on leave.
These actions leave the United States vulnerable despite years of evidence that Russia has undertaken to continue and extend its cyber-efforts, according to Liana Keesing, campaign director for the reform of technology first, a non-profit organization that studied the impact of technology on democracy.
“Instead of dealing with this threat, the Trump administration has actively taken measures to facilitate the Kremlin to interfere in our electoral processes,” Keesing said.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
