Russia is behind the massive, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the federal government and private sector, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday — the first Trump administration official to publicly blame Moscow for the computer hacks.
“This was a very significant effort, and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” said Pompeo in an interview with “The Mark Levin Show.”
My interview this evening with our great Secretary of State Mike Pompeohttps://t.co/0pOffXv1w4
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) December 19, 2020
The Washington Post reports the department he leads is one of a growing list of federal agencies discovered in recent days to have been breached.
Until now the administration has refrained from attributing the operation and President Trump, who has long expressed skepticism that Russia engaged in interference in the 2016 election, has not publicly addressed the issue.
Pompeo’s remarks come as government agencies and affected companies are scrambling to figure out the scope of the breaches, how the Russians carried them off without being detected for months and how to prevent future compromises.
Federal investigators find evidence of previously unknown tactics used to penetrate networks.
"This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States and we should take that seriously.” https://t.co/kdPkTsF322
— The Hill (@thehill) December 19, 2020
The intrusions into federal agencies were first revealed last weekend, and with each day more agencies were discovered to have been breached. Besides the State Department, the list so far includes the Treasury, Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce Departments, as well the National Institutes of Health.
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