Report: US hackers ready to hit back if Russia menaces election

MOSCOW, Nov 7 (PRIME) -- U.S. military hackers have penetrated Russia’s electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin’s command systems, making them vulnerable to attack by secret American cyber weapons should the U.S. deem it necessary, NBC News reported on November 4, referring to a senior intelligence official and top-secret documents.

U.S. officials have long said publicly that Russia, China and other nations have probed and left hidden malware on parts of U.S critical infrastructure, “preparing the battlefield”, in military parlance, for cyberattacks that could turn out the lights or turn off the internet across major cities.

It is been widely assumed that the U.S. has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News – along with remarks by a senior U.S. intelligence official – confirm that, in the case of Russia.

U.S. officials continue to express concern that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to try to disrupt Tuesday’s presidential election. U.S. intelligence officials do not expect Russia to attack critical infrastructure, which many believe would be an act of war, but they do anticipate so-called cyber mischief, including the possible release of fake documents and the proliferation of bogus social media accounts designed to spread misinformation.

On November 4 the hacker known as “Guccifer 2.0”, which U.S. officials say is a front for Russian intelligence, tweeted a threat to monitor the U.S. elections “from inside the system”.

As NBC News reported on November 3, the U.S. government is marshaling resources to combat the threat in a way that is without precedent for a presidential election.

The cyber weapons would only be deployed in the unlikely event the U.S. was attacked in a significant way, officials say.

U.S. military officials often say in general terms that the U.S. possesses the world’s most advanced cyber capabilities, but they will not discuss details of highly classified cyber weapons.

James Lewis, a cyber expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that U.S. hacks into the computer infrastructure of adversary nations such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, something he says he presumes has gone on for years, is akin to the kind of military scouting that is as old as human conflict.

“This is just the cyber version of that,” he said.

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