An alarming first on Russia

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Sam Rolley

U.S. officials have now taken to blaming Russia for attacks on the nation’s energy infrastructure in recent years. It’s another piece of the puzzle in place for a longstanding plan to intensify tensions between the two countries.

The White House last week officially accused Russian actors of launching “hundreds of thousands” of cyber attacks on U.S. infrastructure assets over the past several years.

As Investor’s Business Daily reported:

Russian hackers are attacking critical U.S. infrastructure, including the energy grid, nuclear power plants, and airports, according to U.S. government officials.

Water processing plants are among the other targets being repeatedly tested by rolling attacks. Last year, more than a dozen power plants in seven states were breached due to Russia’s ongoing campaign of cyberattacks.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry told the House Appropriations Subcommittee Thursday cyberattacks are “literally happening hundreds of thousands of times a day. … The warfare that goes on in the cyberspace is real, it’s serious, and we must lead the world.”

Such attacks were cited as being one of the reasons the Trump administration imposed sanctions on a series of Russian organizations and individuals Thursday. In a doomsday scenario, such attacks could leave millions without water and electricity.

Coupled with continued talk about Russian meddling in U.S. elections, this is a signal that the nation is moving closer to war footing against Russia. And though a military standoff may not be in the cards for now, it’s clear that tensions between the two countries are at levels not seen since the height of the Cold War.