Defense Secretary Says US Has ‘Offensive Options’ To Respond To Cyberattacks

(CNN)Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN the United States
has “offensive options” to respond to cyberattacks following
another major attack that is believed to have been carried out by
the Russian group behind the SolarWinds hack.

“We have the capability to conduct offensive operations. We also
have significant capability to be able to, to defend ourselves and
we always look at defending forward from a military perspective,”
Austin told Barbara Starr in an exclusive interview Friday.

“I have a number of offensive options,” Austin said, though he
did not specifically refer to the latest attack. “We will always
maintain credible, effective options.”

Austin’s comments come after the hackers behind one of the worst
data breaches ever to hit the US government launched a new global
cyberattack on more than 150 government agencies, think tanks and
other organizations,
according to Microsoft.

The group, which Microsoft calls “Nobelium,” targeted 3,000
email accounts at various organizations this week — most of which
were in the United States, the company said in a blog post
Thursday.

It believes the hackers are part of the same Russian group
behind last year’s devastating attack on SolarWinds — a software
vendor — that targeted at least nine US federal agencies and 100
companies.

The White House’s National Security Council and the US
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are both
aware of the incident, according to spokespeople. CISA is “working
with the FBI and USAID to better understand the extent of the
compromise and assist potential victims,” a spokesperson said.

When asked about the United States’ ability to get ahead of any
further cyberattacks, Austin told Starr on Friday it is his
responsibility to present President Joe Biden with offensive
options.

“My job is to is to create the options for the President to be
able to choose when he desires to respond. We want good options for
him to choose from. And so that’s what, that’s what the Department
of Defense is focused on,” Austin said.

Cybersecurity has been a major focus for the US government
following the revelations that hackers had put malicious code into
a tool published by SolarWinds. A ransomware attack that shut down
one of America’s most important pieces of energy infrastructure —
the Colonial Pipeline — earlier this month has only heightened the
sense of alarm. That attack was carried out by a criminal group
originating in Russia, according to the FBI.

Austin on Friday doubled down on the US government’s
concentration on the cyber battlefield.

“The cyber domain is really important, it is a part of the, of
the battlespace, it’s a part of the architecture, something that we
have to not only pay attention to, but we have to be dominant in,”
he said.

“I’m confident that we can continue to do what’s necessary to
not only compete, but stay ahead in this in this, in this
domain.”

(CNN)Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN the United States
has “offensive options” to respond to cyberattacks following
another major attack that is believed to have been carried out by
the Russian group behind the SolarWinds hack.

“We have the capability to conduct offensive operations. We also
have significant capability to be able to, to defend ourselves and
we always look at defending forward from a military perspective,”
Austin told Barbara Starr in an exclusive interview Friday.

“I have a number of offensive options,” Austin said, though he
did not specifically refer to the latest attack. “We will always
maintain credible, effective options.”

Austin’s comments come after the hackers behind one of the worst
data breaches ever to hit the US government launched a new global
cyberattack on more than 150 government agencies, think tanks and
other organizations,
according to Microsoft.

The group, which Microsoft calls “Nobelium,” targeted 3,000
email accounts at various organizations this week — most of which
were in the United States, the company said in a blog post
Thursday.

It believes the hackers are part of the same Russian group
behind last year’s devastating attack on SolarWinds — a software
vendor — that targeted at least nine US federal agencies and 100
companies.

The White House’s National Security Council and the US
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are both
aware of the incident, according to spokespeople. CISA is “working
with the FBI and USAID to better understand the extent of the
compromise and assist potential victims,” a spokesperson said.

When asked about the United States’ ability to get ahead of any
further cyberattacks, Austin told Starr on Friday it is his
responsibility to present President Joe Biden with offensive
options.

“My job is to is to create the options for the President to be
able to choose when he desires to respond. We want good options for
him to choose from. And so that’s what, that’s what the Department
of Defense is focused on,” Austin said.

Cybersecurity has been a major focus for the US government
following the revelations that hackers had put malicious code into
a tool published by SolarWinds. A ransomware attack that shut down
one of America’s most important pieces of energy infrastructure —
the Colonial Pipeline — earlier this month has only heightened the
sense of alarm. That attack was carried out by a criminal group
originating in Russia, according to the FBI.

Austin on Friday doubled down on the US government’s
concentration on the cyber battlefield.

“The cyber domain is really important, it is a part of the, of
the battlespace, it’s a part of the architecture, something that we
have to not only pay attention to, but we have to be dominant in,”
he said.

“I’m confident that we can continue to do what’s necessary to
not only compete, but stay ahead in this in this, in this
domain.”