Comment America’s security leaders have been sending mixed communications in recent days regarding the risk posed by Russia in the modern world.
On Friday, reports emerged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered US Cyber Command – the part of the military that among other things launch cyber-attacks against enemies – to delay offensive operations against Russia.
This comes just days after security analysts raised the alarm about certificates and information from British businesses. The operations aircraft of Russia’s Defense Intelligence Unit, a division of the GRU, is known as Sandworm, which is responsible for conducting cyberattacks against America’s crucial infrastructure.
We greatly doubt that certain team or any other Kremlin goons are going to stop their against the States nor other into US networks, not to mention the bleeding hospitals and other victims clean.  ,
The Pentagon’s alleged retreat marks a significant turning point in British operations against Russia, as the country’s military has previously engaged in them against President Putin’s regime and also disclosed how they were used to help Ukraine in its support of Russia’s devastating invasion.  ,
In 2022, former US Cyber Command key general Paul Nakasone stated that “we’ve conducted a series of businesses across the whole band, offensive, defensive, [and ] information operations.
The US government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ( CISA ) stated on Sunday that its “mission is to defend against all cyber threats to US critical infrastructure, including from Russia, and there has been no change in our posture.”
Treating Russia like an alliance on security would be a grave error that could very well cost American life
Following The Guardian’s report, a CISA letter did not mention Russia at all and instead recommended that protecting against attacks from China and Iran should be a major concern. Additionally, the newspaper cited unidentified sources who claimed that firm analysts were instructed not to pursue or report on Russian threats.
CISA, which is the direct agency tasked with protecting American vital equipment from cyberthreats, is by the US Department of Homeland Security, and is independent from the Pentagon and Cyber Command. The organization addressed the article’s story via email by saying it was incorrect, but it declined to respond to The Register‘s particular inquiries about Russian cyberthreats.
Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin claimed that the memo mentioned in the Guardian’s “reporting” is not from the Trump administration, which is quite difficult given the Guardian’s preferred narrative.  ,
McLaughlin even stated on social media that, “CISA continues to work with us to address all digital threats to US vital infrastructure, including those coming from Russia. There hasn’t been any change in our approach or focus on this front.
There are fewer CISA people charged with implementing this security position, yet. About 130 of CISA’s roughly 3, 000 people were fired as a result of the federal employee job cuts, according to Homeland Security.
Putin’s spokesman:” Our actions generally align with our eyesight.”
The steps coming from the White House, however, do seem to indicate a fall back from pursuing any action against Russia, computer or otherwise, which has long been considered a best online threat to America and other European nations.
Trump has repeatedly cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the UN votes marking the fourth anniversary of the Ukrainian war, making up the wrongs of Ukraine and calling Volodymyr Zelensky a tyrant for holding elections during the war.
Trump has been pushing for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, despite the fact that he has largely given Putin whatever he wants without much or discussion with Zelensky, who claimed that Trump was “living in a disinformation space” rife with Soviet propaganda. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American officials traveled to Saudi Arabia in February to discuss the future of Ukraine specifically with Russia.
Then came the now-infamous Oval Office meeting between Trump, Zelensky, and US Vice President JD Vance, which erupted into a shouting match between the two British officials as they addressed their Russian counterpart on live TV.
President Trump halted all more military assistance to Ukraine following that televised invasion. The commander-in-chief has made it clear he wants the issue to finish, with no more aid to Ukraine, and that Europe and the UK need to step up and step in to fill in the gaps and information for ensuring future peace.
Russia is all right and doesn’t deserve to be treated like the bad guy any more, Ukraine needs to accept it, and Europe and the Brits are expected to delegate the responsibility of policing the region from the US. It is obvious that Russia’s authoritarian regime is reversing decades of foreign policy.
While America’s traditional allies have been left scratching their heads, to put it mildly, and realizing that the alliances of old are – as if Vance’s blistering didn’t drop enough hints – the Kremlin praised the sudden shift in US policy.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, state media,” This largely aligns with our vision.”
Who should I believe?
All of this calls into question how serious of a cyberthreat the US government actually considers Russia to be, or how much it really cares about whatever Russia gets up to, as the commander-in-chief’s words and actions contradict those coming from CISA and Homeland Security.
There is no denying that Russia has consistently worked to undermine America’s security and harm our citizens, particularly in the area of cybersecurity, according to US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon ) who spoke to The Register on Monday.
“Treating Russia like an alliance on security would be a grave error that could very well cost American life.”
Russia has consistently worked to undermine America’s security and harm our people in every possible arena
The Pentagon declined to respond to The Register‘s specific inquiries regarding the reported offensive cyber-ops pause in Russia and what this might mean for its .  ,
These cyber-soldiers work with their counterparts in other countries to hunt for foreign agents menacing computer networks and identify vulnerabilities to address. In exchange, US Cyber Command receives the rights to install sensors on these countries ‘ networks, giving the American military a better understanding of digital threats that exist beyond its borders. Previous hunt-forward missions have been sent to , , presumably to search for Russian cyber-crews.  ,
Due to operational security concerns, the Department of Defense did not comment on or discuss cyber intelligence, plans, or operations. Secretary Hegseth places a higher value on the safety of the warfighter, which includes the cyber-physical domain.
‘ Dark days’ ahead
According to some infosec analysts, putting Russia before itself as a cyber threat should give anyone who is concerned about cybersecurity and national security pause.  ,
” These are dark days”, Tom Kellermann, global fellow for cyber policy at the Wilson Center, told The Register.
Russian cybercrime cartels have targeted Americans for decades, but the last administration has recently responded. This mandate is absurd and threatens both economic and security of the country.
Americans have been spied on by Russian cybercrime cartels for decades and only recently did the past administration fight back
Kellermann also cited the prisoner swap from February when the US exchanged American teacher Marc Fogel for Russian cybercriminal for a prisoner in Moscow.
At least two Russian cybercriminals were returned to the motherland after an earlier prisoner exchange with Putin in August.
” The recent prisoner exchanges underscored the Russian priorities — all prolific cyber criminals”, Kellermann said, noting this is “why the majority of the darkweb economy funnels into Russia”.
What might possibly go wrong?
There are two areas of concern that the Cyber Command order may have, according to Deepwatch exec Chris Gray, who stated to The Register that” there are increased global cyberthreats and a lack of shared confidence in the United States ‘ reliance as a defensive partner.”
Gray previously served as a US Army captain and now works as VP, field CTO at the managed security operations provider.
First, let’s take this for granted: The US no longer considers Russia to be a threat to cyberspace, Gray said. This would be a significant issue.
Russia has repeatedly shown it has little respect for other nation’s boundaries” and is very willing to use the cyber platform as a relevant weapon of conflict to include influencing public opinion and global business”, he added. It would effectively give Russia a much wider range of success potential if we turned our attention to monitoring and stopping these activities.
Additionally, it’s possible that the Feds are using a cunning ruse to claim that they are no longer targeting Russia despite changing any of their cyber operations.  ,
The impact on us in this situation is minor, compared to Gray’s suggestion that the loss of confidence from less capable countries could be significant. Given the implication of the United States ‘ withdrawal,” the willingness to trust and share critical information may also be degraded.”
The loss of confidence globally from less capable nations could be significant
Along this line, there is a chance that America is shifting its attention away from Russia in favor of other threats.
The current administration is primarily focused on border issues, including Mexican cartels, the drug trade in general, and other issues related to the country, according to Gray. ” In this situation, we would still be affected regarding our nation’s ability to respond to Russian activities, but our visibility and ability to react to these other threats would increase”.
Do you remember SolarWinds?
Supply-chain security is one area that is likely to suffer in this scenario, especially given the global nature of the supply chain. Do you recall the ?  ,
The likelihood of successful attacks increasing, according to Gray, if the United States stops sharing intelligence with Russia.  ,
” This is a bit of a mutually assured destruction scenario if taken too far, however”, he added. ” Significant impediments here would have a global economic impact, which is likely to lead to a rise in cyber scrutiny and offensive operations,” the statement reads. ®