Russia Calls Britain Enemy Over Cyber Threats
In response to perceived cyber threats from British defense officials on October 9, Deputy Prime Minister Syromolotov told state-run news, “Great Britain, all my life, since Ivan the Terrible, was an enemy of Russia.”
He was responding to senior military staff, who in a Sunday Times article claimed that they had boosted cyber capabilities to the point where they can turn all of Moscow’s lights off. The commanders, who believe that Russia may take Estonian islands to test NATO, stated that the intent is to avoid nuclear war.
In early October, Western governments released a flurry of hacking accusations against the Kremlin, which were dubbed by its foreign minister as a “diabolical perfume cocktail” of allegations. On October 4, seven supposed GRU operatives were arrested in Pennsylvania for hacking the World Anti-Doping Agency.
On October 8, the Netherlands accused Russia of attempting to hack the chemical weapons watchdog OPCW. That same day, Latvian intelligence asserted that its state institutions were hacked by the GRU. The debacle may lead towards European sanctions on Russia as, the British foreign secretary held talks with eight of his counterparts on October 14. However, Italy’s new all-populist government could veto such actions.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied all charges. Its embassy in London argued that the Sunday Times’ reports of a future invasion of Estonia were drawn to scare the public and also said that it was alarmed by calls in British parliament to conduct a cyber campaign against the Kremlin.
Most Western governments link the breaches to a hacking group known as Fancy Bear, which they believe has ties to the GRU. The Russian press has emphasized that the allegations are based on flimsy evidence. RT points out that this is a recurring theme; in 2017 the head of German state security insisted that Fancy Bear had attacked the Bundestag before announcing that it was “impossible… to find irrefutable evidence” of it.
While firm proof linking Fancy Bear to the Russian military may not exist, its state-of-the-art resources would make it difficult for the group to be independent. The security firm FireEye showed how the group used leaked NSA tools to gain access to control online networks of several hotels.
Syromolotov’s announcement undoubtedly sharpens the aggravation of relations between Russia and the West. The climate of peace and prosperity that was anticipated as the Berlin wall came down never materialized. NATO’s expansion east to the Russian border and Moscow’s interference in Georgia and Ukraine poisoned the relationship.