State-Sponsored Cyberattacks Prompt Debate
September 22 2016 - 08:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Damian Paletta
The rapid rise of state-sponsored computer attacks has caught
the U.S. government and many businesses off-guard, escalating a
debate about whether more should be done to deter countries like
Russia from penetrating sensitive networks.
The latest breach, reported Thursday by Yahoo Inc., affected
roughly 500 million accounts and is considered one of the largest
ever perpetrated.
U.S. officials wouldn't immediately confirm that the company's
hack was a state-sponsored breach.
A number of countries are believed to have carried out
cyberattacks against the U.S. government or companies, including
North Korea, Iran, Russia and China. All have denied perpetrating
any attacks.
U.S. officials consider Russia and China to have the most
sophisticated hackers, but there are also criminal elements working
within each country that are capable of carrying out large-scale
breaches without government involvement.
This can make it harder for law-enforcement and intelligence
officials to determine who ordered the breach, potentially giving
foreign governments cover when the U.S. considers how to respond or
retaliate.
The White House is in the midst of one of these debates now,
wrestling with how to respond to a large-scale cyberattack earlier
this year that stole records from the Democratic National
Committee, its affiliates, and others.
Three internet outlets have leaked some of the stolen documents
online.
The DNC breach was first reported in June, but it wasn't until
Tuesday that U.S. Director of National Intelligence suggested
publicly that Russia was likely behind the operation. Russian
officials have denied involvement, but Russian President Vladimir
Putin has said the leaked records served a public service.
Chinese hackers have posed a major challenge to the U.S.
government, though senior U.S. officials believe China has
ratcheted back its use of cyberattacks since President Barack Obama
and Chinese leaders agreed last year that the countries wouldn't
use information stolen by hackers to benefit domestic
companies.
The agreement was awkward: China and the U.S. stated they had
never used such information in the first place, but U.S. officials
said that after the agreement, they have seen a marked change in
China's behavior.
The U.S.-China talks were prompted, however, by a giant theft of
personnel records from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
something U.S. officials accused China of carrying out. Chinese
officials have denied carrying out the theft.
A number of lawmakers in Congress and senior military leaders
have said the U.S. needs to more clearly define how it will respond
to state-sponsored cyberattacks as a way to warn foreign actors
about the repercussions for these intrusions.
This internal discussion, which has gone on for more than a
year, has moved slowly, however, in part because it could expose
details about the U.S. government's own arsenal of cyberweapons,
something considered a closely guarded secret.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2016 20:26 ET (00:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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