Pierluigi Paganini
July 13, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that in 2018 US cyber army has launched a cyber-attack against a Russian company believed to be a troll farm behind some major disinformation campaigns, including the ones aimed at influencing the elections.
According to The Washington Post the target of the attack was the Saint Petersburg-based firm Internet Research Agency (IRA) that was suspected to be the source of disinformation campaigns arranged by the Kremlin.
The attack took place in February 2018 and was launched by the U.S. Cyber Command with the support of the NSA, the US hackers were able to take the company offline.
The attacks have been launched as deterrence for interference in the 2018 midterm elections, similar to what has happened in the 2016 presidential elections. The operation against the IRA was authorized by President Trump, who also claimed that President Barack Obama, did nothing to stop Russian disinformation campaigns before the 2016 presidential election.
While it’s known that the United States does conduct offensive cyber operations, it’s highly uncommon for the government to confirm a specific attack.
In February 2018, the special prosecutor Robert Mueller has accused thirteen Russian nationals of tampering with the 2016 presidential election and charged them with conspiring against the United States.
According to the results of the investigation conducted by the prosecutor, the Internet Research Agency and the 13 Russians began targeting the United States back in 2014.
Russian nationals used stolen American identities and local computer infrastructure to influence the 2016 Presidential election, the group deliberately denigrate the candidate Clinton to support Trump.
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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, President Donald Trump)
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