The US & Britain Issue Joint Statement about the Global Cyber Attack

The U.S and Britain have jointly issued an alert warning of a global cyber attack that’s allegedly being carried out by Russian government-backed hackers.

The joint alert, issued on Monday, speaks about a widespread global campaign that began in 2015 and targeted routers and other networking equipment. The alerts warn that the cyber attack, which targets government agencies, businesses and critical infrastructure operators, could be escalated to launch offensive attacks.

It was just recently, about two months ago, that the U.S and Britain accused Russia of carrying out the “NotPetya” cyber attacks last year; the NotPetya attacks, it must be remembered had caused widespread damage to computer systems all around the world and had crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure.

It’s said that the attacks have affected private businesses, internet service providers and many providers of critical infrastructure. The alert, however, hasn’t provided any details regarding the impact of the attacks or the identities of the victims.

Reuters reports- “The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Russia’s embassy in London issued a statement citing British accusations of cyber threats from Moscow as “striking examples of a reckless, provocative and unfounded policy against Russia.”Moscow has denied previous accusations that it carried out cyber attacks on the United States and other countries…U.S. intelligence agencies last year accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election with a hacking and propaganda campaign supporting Donald Trump’s campaign for president. Last month the Trump administration blamed Russia for a campaign of cyber attacks that targeted the U.S. power grid.” The report also discusses Britain’s relations with Russia, saying, “Relations between Russia and Britain were already on edge after Prime Minister Theresa May blamed Moscow for the March 4 nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.”

The U.S and Britan say that the joint alert has been issued so as to help potential targets protect themselves and also to persuade those who have been affected to share details with government investigators so that a better understanding can be formed regarding the cyber security threat.

White House cyber security coordinator Rob Joyce has reportedly clarified that the joint alert has nothing to do with the suspected chemical weapons attack in a town in Syria, which has prompted a U.S-led military strike targeting facilities of the Russian-backed Syrian government.

Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the British governments National Cyber Security Centre cyber defense agency has reportedly stated that millions of machines have been targeted and has been quoted as saying-“They could be pre-positioning for use in times of tension”.