The American “Newsweek” magazine said that the unprecedented penetration that first targeted the American software company SolarWinds Before it spreads to higher levels in the US government, it tests the definition of what constitutes cyber espionage, what the Pentagon defines as a true attack on the nation, and opens the door to retaliation if it proves to be an attack.
The magazine added that experts warn that if it is proven to be an attack, it will open the way for revenge, including in the physical sphere, but determining what exactly constitutes an attack in cyberspace, even in the twenty-first century, remains an ambiguous problem.
A cybersecurity expert familiar with the case argued that it was an accident Solar Winds It was a real attack, because the perpetrators had not only infiltrated, but had hacked and covered their paths by manipulating the code.
“Access to the system was unauthorized and illegal, and changing the code with malicious intent was an attack,” the expert, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Newsweek.
He explained that the US military has two terms to define what constitutes an act of electronic warfare against the state by an adversary. The first is “cyber attack”, which is “a hostile act that uses computers, networks, or related systems, and aims to disrupt and / or destroy electronic systems, assets, or critical functions of the adversary.”
The second is a “computer network attack (CNA), Which is defined as “a class of attacks used for offensive purposes in which actions are taken by using computer networks to disrupt the information residing in the target information system or computer networks, or the systems / networks themselves.”
The cybersecurity expert Newsweek spoke with said it was in breach SolarWinds Then the subsequent malicious activities fit into both categories.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed his conviction that Russia belongs to the list of US “enemies”, and blamed it for the recent large-scale cyber attack on his country.
On Friday, Pompeo said in an interview with broadcaster Mark Levin on Fox News, the US State Department published his full text: “They always ask me who is our enemy, and my answer is that there are many people who want to undermine our lifestyle, our republic and our basic democratic principles, and Russia in particular.” Within this list. “
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