www.newsweek.com Open in urlscan Pro
99.83.219.100  Public Scan

Form analysis
3 forms found in the DOM

GET https://www.newsweek.com/search/site/

<form autocomplete="off" action="https://www.newsweek.com/search/site/" method="get" accept-charset="UTF-8"><input class="form-text" title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." placeholder=" 🔍&nbsp;Search" type="text" name="q" value="" size="15"
    maxlength="128">
  <input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" value="form-fZ682WsdOVy0CvQPbIUL2T6In25EQtbU6DClgu3ttr8">
  <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value="NjTiMzKKqA3lZiZaca71FcNN-AlbGkwHKY6-BFpKd3U">
  <input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="search_block_form">
</form>

GET https://www.newsweek.com/search/site/

<form autocomplete="off" action="https://www.newsweek.com/search/site/" method="get" accept-charset="UTF-8">
  <input title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." placeholder="Search" type="text" name="q" value="" size="15" maxlength="128" class="form-text">
</form>

<form class="free-signup">
  <label for="email_address" class="n-title flex-xs ai-c"><span class="icon-n"></span>Get the best of Newsweek via email</label>
  <input type="email" name="email" id="email_address" class="form-text" placeholder="Email address" autocomplete="email">
  <input type="hidden" id="utm_source" value="">
  <input type="hidden" id="registration_url" value="https://www.newsweek.com/russia-hack-cybersecurity-navalny-sanctions-1554837">
  <input type="hidden" id="site_form" value="page_middle">
  <input type="hidden" class="message" value="Thanks For The SignUp">
  <input type="hidden" class="newsletter_type" value="Default">
  <input type="submit" class="form-submit" value="Free Sign Up">
</form>

Text Content

 * U.S.
 * World
 * Tech & Science
 * Culture
 * Autos
 * Rankings
 * Health
 * Life
 * Opinion
 * Experts
 * Education
 * Fact Check My Turn Podcasts Mightier Vantage Unconventional

Subscribe for $1
Login

×
Subscribe for $1 Login
 * U.S.
   
 * World
   
 * Tech & Science
   
 * Culture
   
 * Autos
   
 * Rankings
   
 * Health
   
 * Life
   
 * Opinion
   
 * Experts
   
 * Education
   
 * Fact Check
   
 * My Turn
   
 * Podcasts
   
 * Mightier
   
 * Vantage
   
 * Unconventional
   



World


RUSSIA'S ALLEGED SOLARWINDS CYBER ATTACK LIKELY TO PROVOKE TOUGH WESTERN
RESPONSE

By Brendan Cole On 12/15/20 at 11:06 AM EST
Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on
Flipboard Share via Email Comments
World Alexei Navalny Vladimir Putin Russia Cybersecurity


For Russia to face one accusation of involvement in an incident of international
intrigue may be seen as a misfortune; two within two days may look like
carelessness.

Russian fingerprints are said to be all over the hack of SolarWinds software
used by U.S. government networks, including the Treasury and Commerce
Departments, the Department of Home Security (DHS), and several others,
according to Reuters.

The allegations implicating Russia's external security service the SVR came just
as an investigative website outlined the extensive role that Russia's internal
security service, the FSB, played in the Novichok poisoning of President
Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny.

Newsweek Newsletter sign-up >


The Bellingcat report identified a group of operatives from the FSB, including
medics, who tracked the opposition leader and anti-corruption activist on more
than 30 trips over three years.


Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny during a demonstration in Moscow on
September 29, 2019. An investigation by Bellingcat found extensive FSB
involvement in his poison attack. YURI KADOBNOVYURI KADOBNOV/Getty Images

Moscow denies any involvement in both cases which are sure to focus the minds of
the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden.



Recent western efforts to contain Russia's behavior, such as the expulsion of
diplomats, appear to have had little success. The Navalny poisoning had sparked
EU sanctions, but the hacking of U.S. federal systems could prompt a sterner
response.

Newsweek subscription offers >

"The scale of the hackers' attack is a much bigger thing than the new
information about Navalny," Arkady Moshes, director of the EU's Eastern
Neighbourhood and Russia program at the Finnish Institute of International
Affairs think tank, told Newsweek.

"It is much more dangerous for Russia, for Russian-western relations, and if
even for international stability because this is when both sides can start
playing really nasty."

Ties between Moscow and Europe had already hit a low in 2018 following the
Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.

But the actions of agents—both secret and nerve—did not seem to dent the push
for the west to re-engage with Russia, which got backing to return to the
Council of Europe in June 2019, after its expulsion for the 2014 seizure of
Crimea.

It means that further information about how Navalny was tracked and targeted is
unlikely to change the calculus of any western response to Moscow, but the
hacking attack just might.

"I don't expect Europe to change its position because Europe is afraid to
provoke Russia," said Moshes, "but the hacking attack is a different story
because it affects the United States and the United States can react
differently."



A computer keyboard is shown in this illustrative image. Russia has been accused
of being behind the hacking of U.S. federal institutions. NICOLAS ASFOURI/Getty
Images

He continued: "They will not ask for a court in the Hague to start an
investigation, they might respond in kind.

"I believe Americans know how to send certain signals to Russia and make the
Russian government understand that the consequences might be quite severe," he
said.

"The new American administration might just simply need to show that it also can
play hardball, and show that it might deal with Russia differently to its
predecessor."



Former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, and vocal critic of President Donald Trump,
Michael McFaul, signaled the difficulty faced by the incoming Biden
administration in how to tackle Russia.

"It's very important reminder that the Russian threat—not just China—will be a
central challenge for the Biden administration and our allies for many years to
come," McFaul tweeted.

> It’s very important reminder that the Russian threat — not just China — will
> be a central challenge for the Biden administration and our allies for many
> years to come. https://t.co/crxooFFgBr
> 
> — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) December 14, 2020

Meanwhile, cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch told the Associated Press
that the hack which compromised the corporate software management tool
SolarWinds could be "one of the most impactful" espionage campaigns ever.



The next move by the U.S. could depend on whether Russia had simply carried out
a clandestine information gathering hack or made a definite move to destabilize
the country.

"It is unlikely to yield any substantive reply from the U.S. other than to
redouble its own efforts to gain access to similar Russian systems," Alan
Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told
Newsweek.

"Of course, should it be discovered that there was a Russian intention to
destabilize systems as with the various 2016 hacks," he said, "then we can
expect a much tougher U.S. response, perhaps even during the transition given
the Trump State Department's record of firm action for previous serious
incursions."

Read more
 * Oliver Stone Has Russian COVID Vaccine, Asks Why It's 'Ignored' in the West
 * Pompeo Put N. Korea, China Cyber Threat Over Russia Before SolarWinds News
 * SolarWinds Hack Exposed After FireEye Cybersecurity Firm Found 'Backdoor'



Much like with the Navalny case, the Russian embassy in Washington DC has been
strident in its denial. It said in a statement that Russia "does not conduct
offensive operations in the cyber domain."

Amid the likelihood that similar attempts by the NSA and GCHQ to crack Russian
state communications were being made, "it is really about recalibrating and
enforcing the etiquette of international behavior," said Mark Galeotti, honorary
professor at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European
Studies.

"There is 'some' sense of limits. The problem is that too often the United
States in particular gives the appearance that its problem is with what Russia
is, not what it does. There's little that can be done on that basis," he told
Newsweek.

The graphic below from Statista outlines President Vladimir Putin's time in
power.



Vladimir Putin's reign in Russia. Statista
Request Reprint & Licensing, Submit Correction or view Editorial Guidelines










The Debate
SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee
By Ellis Henican

VS
Justices Are Allowed to Have Friends
By Mark Davis
Opinion
 * A Voting Rights Struggle Masquerading as a Crime Debate
   By Brooke Floyd, Danielle Sered, And Mike Milton
   
 * Balanced Budgets Don't Need to Be a Thing of the Past
   By John Kasich And Timothy Penny
   
 * Bud Light's Course Correction Is Not Cancel Culture
   By Stephen Kent
   
 * Tucker Carlson and the Struggle for Civilizational Sanity
   By Josh Hammer
   
 * Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Chaos of 1968
   By Michael Medved
   
 * When Your Florist Is Asking for Tips, Something's Gotta Give
   By Saru Jayaraman
   
 * Stopping Corporate Ownership of U.S. Farmland Should Be a Priority
   By Rhonda Perry
   
 * Outrage Over Russia's Security Council Presidency Wasn't Worth It
   By Daniel R. Depetris
   
 * Unions Make Companies Clean Up Their Garbage
   By Kevin Clark
   
 * The Conservative Case for Teaching About 'Gender Identity'
   By Max Eden
   
 * Banning Gas-Powered Cars Won't Save the Environment
   By Jon Miltimore
   
 * 'De Minimis' Is as Nefarious as 'All Deliberate Speed'
   By Nathan Lewin
   

Get the best of Newsweek via email





EDITOR'S PICK

Secret Chinese Police Stations in Europe Are 'Tip of the Iceberg'—Watchdog
"The embarrassment is just going to keep growing over this," Laura Harth, the
campaign director at Safeguard Defenders, told Newsweek.
By David Brennan
5 MIN READ
Trump's Attorney Just Blew Carroll Rape Case
During the defense's cross-examination of E. Jean Carroll, Trump's attorney
asked the writer why she "did not scream" when she was "supposedly raped."
By Giulia Carbonaro
2 MIN READ
King Charles Says Royals Require 'Acting Ability'
By James Crawford-Smith
3 MIN READ
Ukraine Will 'Regain Significant Territory' From Russia—Ex-U.S. Commander
By Isabel van Brugen
2 MIN READ
How Disney's Lawsuit Against Ron DeSantis Stacks Up
By Giulia Carbonaro
2 MIN READ
King Charles Says Royals Require 'Acting Ability'
By James Crawford-Smith
3 MIN READ
Ukraine Will 'Regain Significant Territory' From Russia—Ex-U.S. Commander
By Isabel van Brugen
2 MIN READ
How Disney's Lawsuit Against Ron DeSantis Stacks Up
By Giulia Carbonaro
2 MIN READ
Premium Subscription

Digital + Monthly (Ad Free Trial)

 * Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
 * Unlimited access to Newsweek.com
 * Ad free Newsweek.com experience
 * iOS and Android app access
 * All newsletters + podcasts

Subscribe now
 * Unlimited access to Newsweek.com
 * Ad free Newsweek.com experience
 * iOS and Android app access
 * All newsletters + podcasts

Subscribe now





U.S.
World
Tech & Science
Culture
Autos
Rankings
Health
Opinion
Experts
Education
Fact Check
My Turn
Podcasts
Mightier
Vantage
Unconventional

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trending
Joe Biden
Russia-Ukraine War
Donald Trump
Vladimir Putin
Tucker Carlson
Subscriptions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digital+ Monthly (Ad Free Trial) $1.00
Digital+ Yearly $49.00
Premium Monthly $9.99
Premium Yearly $99

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S.
World
Tech & Science
Culture
Autos
Rankings
Health
Opinion
Experts
Education
Fact Check
My Turn
Podcasts
Mightier
Vantage
Unconventional
Trending
Joe Biden Russia-Ukraine War Donald Trump Vladimir Putin Tucker Carlson
Subscriptions
Digital+ Monthly (Ad Free Trial) $1.00
Digital+ Yearly $49.00
Premium Monthly $9.99
Premium Yearly $99
In The Magazine


May 05
2023 Issue
In The Magazine
May 05
2023 Issue
Newsletters in your inbox  See all
The Bulletin (Mondays to Saturdays)
See Sample
The Debate (Tuesdays)

The Cover (Wednesdays)
See Sample
For The Culture (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
See Sample
The Frontlines (Thursdays)
See Sample
Infinite Scroll (Tuesdays)
See Sample
The Josh Hammer Report (Wednesdays)
See Sample
Mightier (Coming soon)

Sign up now
You can unsubscribe at any time.
By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Company
About Us
Masthead
Diversity
Announcements
Archive
Policies and Standards
Mission Statement
Leadership
Newsletters

Editions:
U.S. Edition
日本
Polska
România

Contact
Advertise
Careers
Contact Us
Corrections

Terms of Use
Cookie Policy
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Terms of Sale

© 2023 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC