TASS, March 8. The United States plans to carry out a series of cyberattacks over the next three weeks on the internal systems of the Russian authorities in response to Russia’s alleged hacker attack on SolarWinds, The New York Times reported citing sources in the US administration.
"The first major move is expected over the next three weeks, officials said, with a series of clandestine actions across Russian networks that are intended to be evident to President Vladimir V. Putin and his intelligence services and military but not to the wider world," the newspaper claimed.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the attack will be accompanied by economic sanctions. In addition, US President Joe Biden intends to sign an executive order to strengthen protection of government computer systems to prevent future cyberattacks.
US intelligence claims Russia is behind the cyberattack on SolarWinds' software: in March 2020, hackers managed to upload a virus into the Orion update, which was then downloaded and used by thousands of the company's customers, including US government agencies and more than 400 of the largest US enterprises.
Russian representatives at the highest level categorically rejected Washington's version of Moscow's involvement in the attack.