FILE
- In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Russian businessman Yevgeny
Prigozhin is shown prior to a meeting of Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.
Russian operatives working for Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch
with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, used a network of fake
social media accounts and targeted messaging to roil the national debate
in the 2016 election, prosecutors allege. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo
via AP)
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- The Trump administration accused Russia on Thursday of a
concerted, ongoing operation to hack and spy on the U.S. energy grid and
other critical infrastructure, and separately imposed sanctions on
Russian officials for alleged high-tech interference in the 2016
American presidential election.
U.S.
national security officials said the FBI, the Homeland Security
Department and American intelligence agencies determined that Russian
intelligence and others were behind the attacks on the energy sector.
The officials said the Russians deliberately chose U.S. energy industry
targets, obtaining access to computer systems and then conducting
"network reconnaissance" of industrial control systems that run American
factories and the electricity grid.
The
U.S. government has helped energy businesses kick out the Russians from
all systems currently known to have been penetrated, according to the
officials. The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of
anonymity to discuss sensitive national security information, left open
the possibility of discovering more breaches, and said the federal
government was issuing an alert to the energy industry to raise
awareness about the threat and improve preparation.
The
accusations and accompanying sanctions are some of the strongest
actions to date by the administration to punish Russia for hacking and
other efforts to sow discord in the American democracy. Also Thursday,
the U.S. joined the Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement
blaming Moscow for the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy who was living in
England.
The
list of Russians now under sanction includes the 13 indicted last month
by U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his Russia-related
investigation into alleged election interference. The sanctions are the
first use of the new powers that Congress passed last year to punish
Moscow for meddling in an election that Republican Donald Trump won over
Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"These
targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the
ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia," Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin said. He said others would face punishment in the future
under the new sanctions law "to hold Russian government officials and
oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities."
Altogether,
19 Russians were cited. Also sanctioned were five Russian companies,
including the Internet Research Agency, which is accused of
orchestrating a mass online disinformation campaign to affect the
presidential election result.
The
Treasury Department announced the sanctions amid withering criticism of
Trump and his administration for failing to use its congressionally
mandated authority to punish Russia. Trump himself has been skeptical of
the election accusations.
The
targets include officials working for the Russian military intelligence
agency GRU. Thursday's action freezes any assets the individuals and
entities may have in the United States and bars Americans from doing
business with them.
The
Treasury Department said the GRU and Russia's military both interfered
in the 2016 election and were "directly responsible" for the NotPetya
cyberattack that hit businesses across Europe in June 2017.
"The
administration is confronting and countering malign Russian
cyberactivity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections,
destructive cyberattacks, and intrusions targeting critical
infrastructure," said Mnuchin said.
Among
those affected was Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is known as Russian President
Vladimir Putin's "chef" and who ran the St. Petersburg-based Internet
Research Agency and 12 of the agency's employees. They were included in
Mueller's indictment last month.
The
IRA "tampered with, altered, or caused a misappropriation of
information with the purpose or effect of interfering with or
undermining election processes and institutions," specifically the 2016
U.S. presidential race.
"The
IRA created and managed a vast number of fake online personas that
posed as legitimate U.S. persons to include grassroots organizations,
interest groups, and a state political party on social media," the
Treasury Department statement said. "Through this activity, the IRA
posted thousands of ads that reached millions of people online."
The
sanctions also affect the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, and
six of its employees for cyberattacks more broadly, including those
targeting Russian journalists, opposition figures, foreign politicians
and U.S. officials. The Americans include members of the diplomatic
corps, the military and White House staffers.
___
Reach Matthew Lee on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APDiploWriter and Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
No comments:
Post a Comment