Today, President Barack Obama announced sanctions on Russia in response to cyber attacks. Specifically in response aimed to attacks that affect the recent United States Presidental Election.
These sanctions are both for individuals and for entities. These include the GRU, the FSB, two Russian intelligence services, four individual officers, and three companies that supported the GRU. Two more individuals who have large histories online, at times going under different names, are also being sanctioned. Two compounds in New York and Maryland that are used for Russian intellegnce purposes will be shut down as well.
Lastly, the Department of Homeland Secuirty and the FBI are releasing technical ifnormation Russian cyber activity. This way companies and governments can help to “defend, identity, and disrupt” Russia’s cyber hacks.
The President stated, “These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior.” Which shows much thought was put into these retaliations.
The statement concluded by saying these are not all that the United States is doing in response to Russia. In the coming days he will be meeting with Congress to discuss and show the full story of the cyber hack. The President ended with, “In addition to holding Russia accountable for what it has done, the United States and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russia’s efforts to undermine established international norms of behavior, and interfere with democratic governance.”
