Obama has admitted that the United States is more vulnerable to hacking than Russia. While speaking in what could very well be his last press conference of 2016, and one of the last few of his presidency, Obama said on Friday that the U.S. has more to lose than Russia in case a full-scale cyber war breaks out, CNN Money reports.
“Our economy is more digitized, it’s more vulnerable, partly because we’re a wealthier nation, and we’re more wired than other nations.”
Obama warned earlier this week that the U.S. would be retaliating against Russia, after reports claimed that they were actively involved in hacking the Democratic emails during the election. It was concluded by intelligence officials that the hacking was a clear attempt to influence the results of the election in favor of President-elect Donald Trump.
Experts believe that Russia’s hacking influenced the results of the election. [Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
Tensions have been soaring high between the U.S. and Russia ever since the two locked horns over Russia’s intervention in Syria. And this is the first time in history that the world has been on the brink of an open cyber warfare. Austin Berglas, a former FBI agent turned cyber-security consultant at K2 Intelligence, has confirmed the president’s remark, saying that the fact that the United States is a much more digitized society than Russia means that “the potential cause damage to critical infrastructure is greater” in the U.S.
“A three-pronged attack against our power grid, transportation, and financial systems would be devastating and potentially viewed as a terrorist attack against the United States.”
Russia was scrutinized for hacking Ukraine’s energy grid last year. And it has also been reported that Russia has been hacking neighbors Ukraine and Georgia, interfering with their politics and state infrastructure.
Experts have pointed out that in case of such a warfare, the Russian government will do a lot more harm than the United States government. Patrick Wardle, a former NSA hacker turned researcher for cyber-security firm Synack, points out how Russians could even target American tech companies.
“If the Russians took down Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat, the American public would lose their minds.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin & U.S. President Barack Obama. [Image by Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP Images]
The U.S. already maintains a strict sanction against Russia, and if it were to seek additional sanctions, Laura Galante, director of global Intelligence for FireEye, believes that Russia could start targeting American businesses as well. She believes that the Russians could hack “U.S. businesses and executives for reputation damage,” comparing the ramifications to the damages done to the Democratic Party during the election.
Jason Healey of Columbia University calls the election hacking one of the most serious kinds of conflict we’ve ever come across.
“It’s clear Putin does not care about sanctions or other diplomatic means we might use to get him to back down.”
Some experts such as Dave Aitel recommend a more aggressive American response.
“Let’s turn off all the lights in Moscow, then turn them back on five minutes later. And do that every day at a certain hour. It’s scary with no collateral damage.”
Others have suggested a more quieter response — the U.S. target the hackers and shuts down their operation.
Some experts, however, disagree with President Obama, pointing out that even though the United States is much more dependent on the internet, Russia is the weaker and more unstable country, something that could be advantageous to the U.S. Michael Hayden, former CIA director, points out how the U.S. could provide Russian citizens with software that can make it easier for them to speak against their government. Kenneth Geers, of NATO’s Cyber Center, agrees.
“Dictators may win cyber battles, but they will lose cyber wars.”
[Featured Image by Profit_Image/Shutterstock]
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