Russia warned last week that cyber attacks upon its critical infrastructure will not be left unanswered. “Russia will not leave unanswered aggressive actions,” declared Andrei Krutskikh, the Director of the Department of International Information Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on June 9, in remarks posted on the Foreign Ministry website. “All our steps will be measured, targeted, in accordance with our legislation and international law.” His comments came the day after Britain’s Sky News posted a more extensive report on its June 1 interview with U.S. Cyber Command chief Gen. Paul Nakasone. In that interview, Nakasone indicated that the U.S. had engaged in offensive cyber operations against Russia in support of Ukraine.
Krutskikh stressed that Russia is experiencing widespread cyber attacks, including against state institutions, critical and social infrastructure facilities, and storage facilities with personal data of its citizens and foreigners living in Russia. He said, further: “Officials in the United States and Ukraine are taking responsibility for the sabotage. It is there that they categorically refuse to develop international legal foundations. They do not seem to fully realize how dangerous aggressiveness and encouragement of gangsterism is in the field of information security.”
