Biden mulls punishments for Russia over suspected role in government hack

[mysteryowl]

President-elect Joe Biden’s team will consider several options to punish Russia for its suspected role in the unprecedented hacking of US government agencies and companies once he takes office, from new financial sanctions to cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said.

The response will need to be strong enough to impose a high economic, financial or technological cost on the perpetrators, but avoid an escalating conflict between two nuclear-armed adversaries, said one person familiar with Biden’s deliberations, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The overarching goal of any action, which could also include stepped-up counter-cyber espionage, would be to create an effective deterrence and diminish the potency of future Russian cyber spying, the person said.

The unfolding crisis – and the lack of visibility over the extent of the infiltration into the computer networks of federal agencies including the treasury, energy and commerce departments – will push to the front of Biden’s agenda when he takes office on 20 January.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/20/russian-hack-suspected-role-biden-mulls-punishment

[GoCubsGo]

1. Good. One can only hope that part of the punishment is

a cyber retaliation that makes the Stuxnet attack look like a college prank.

[beachbumbob]

2. solarwind cyber attack by Russia is a clear act of war. Everything should be

on the table.

[former9thward]

9. What is "everything"?

Nuclear war?

[beachbumbob]

12. It's part of everything.

[former9thward]

14. So around 200 million Americans die over a hack?

So glad you have perspective on this....

[dalton99a]

3. #1: Remove Russian banks from SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

Make their bank cards useless outside Russia, and prevent electronic fund transfers.

Treat Russia like Iran and North Korea. Make them carry cash in suitcases.

(The U.S. Treasury Department has the authority to take this action, which it did with Iran in 2012)

[KatyMan]

4. Didn't it used to be like that?

That rubles were worthless outside the Soviet Union, and they were always looking for hard currency? We can do that again.
I still think we can do damage to their internet access, slow down the connection to the outside world, or block certain networks. Of course, rich people and banks wouldn't like any of that stuff so it won't happen.

[dalton99a]

7. Correct.

SWIFT now lists 466 codes for Russian banks. (Banks use SWIFT codes for exchanging messages and for transferring money, particularly for international wire transfers)

In anticipation of U.S. sanctions, Russia has been working on an alternative system - called SPFS (Russian for "System for Transfer of Financial Messages" ). China has been doing the same, something called CIPS. Neither proposal gained traction outside their borders.

[Klaralven]

10. That would remove our ability to gather all that Russian payment information

The SWIFT secure messaging network is run from three data centers, one in the United States, one in the Netherlands and one in Switzerland. These centers share information in near real-time. In case of a failure in one of the data centers, another is able to handle the traffic of the complete network. SWIFT uses submarine communications cables to transmit its data.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication#Operations_centers

[dalton99a]

11. This is about retribution, not data gathering

Russia should be treated like a rogue and hostile country, which it is.

[Chainfire]

5. Maybe it is good that Trump is cowed by Putin

Hopefully we will have a rational adult dealing with the issue who can bring us satisfaction without nuclear war.

[DFW]

6. I hope team Biden keeps Putin guessing until he takes office

No sense in letting them know what to prepare for.

[beachbumbob]

8. problem is 30 days between and now and then. Putin could direct his Solarwind hackers to activate

and do a systematic shutdown and ensuing chaos in america and across the world. 30 days is a long time to hold one's breath as a mere salvo of an incursion could crash our markets and financial systems

[Irish_Dem]

13. But is a global economy, if Putin hurts our financial markets, wouldn't that hurt Putin

as well?

I wish I knew what Putin's end game is here...