U.S. Cyber Command has launched a new operation intended to deter foreign election interference by letting Russian individuals working to undermine democracy know they have been identified and are being tracked.
Defense officials would not say how many individuals they were targeting, and they would not describe the methods that Cyber Command has used to send the direct messages to the operatives behind the influence campaigns. It is not clear if the information was delivered in an email, a chat or some other electronic intervention.
Senior defense officials said they were not directly threatening the operatives. Still, former officials said anyone singled out would know, based on the United States government’s actions against other Russian operatives, that they could be indicted or targeted with sanctions ...
The Cyber Command operations appear relatively measured, especially in comparison with the increasingly elaborate and sophisticated efforts by Russia to use disinformation to sow dissent in the United States.
But the American campaign undertaken in response to Russia’s information offensive is limited in large part to keep Moscow from escalating in response by taking down the power grid or conducting some other reprisal that could trigger a bigger clash between great powers.
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The new American campaign ... is aimed at both oligarch-funded hacking groups and Russian intelligence operatives who are part of Moscow’s disinformation campaign. It is not clear whether Cyber Command’s effort is also aimed at halting Russian operatives charged with hacking political entities.
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American officials say the Russian effort to destabilize the American elections is closely tied to Moscow’s work in Europe.
The criminal complaint unsealed on Friday showed that Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, the St. Petersburg accountant involved in the disinformation campaign in the United States, was also active in Europe, including in Ukraine, considered the focus of Moscow’s efforts to weaken its neighbors and the West.
Cyber Command has also sent teams to Ukraine, Macedonia and Montenegro to build up defenses against Russian hackers intent on penetrating government networks on its doorstep in Eastern Europe.
U.S. Begins First Cyberoperation Against Russia Aimed at Protecting Elections (NYT)