US ramping up digital attacks on Russia's power grid: report

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The Hill

The U.S. is reportedly ramping up attacks on Russia's electric power grid. 

The move is a warning to Moscow of how the Trump administration is using new authorities to unleash cybertools in a more aggressive manner, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing current and former government officials. 

The officials told the newspaper that the U.S. was deploying computer code within Russia's grid and other targets along with other actions to combat Russian disinformation and hacking in the 2018 elections. 

 

 

Proponents of the action reportedly said it was warranted given alerts from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI that Russia had inserted malware that could hurt U.S. power plants, oil and gas pipelines and water supplies. 

The administration did not tell The Times specifically what it was doing under the new authorities that were given to the U.S. Cyber Command by the White House and Congress last year.  

The Cyber Command is the Defense Department branch that coordinates the military's online operations. The Hill has reached out to the Defense Department for comment.