WASHINGTON—Despite its size, a sprawling computer hack blamed on Russia could leave President Trump and the incoming Biden administration struggling to find the right response, former U.S. cybersecurity officials and experts said.
While Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) called the breaches that hit at least six cabinet-level departments as well as private companies “virtually a declaration of war,” the former officials said the intrusions fell more along the lines of classic digital espionage, however brazen. As far as is known from descriptions of the hack, no data was altered or destroyed, and no computer systems or other infrastructure damaged.
Further complicating any consideration of response options is that U.S. officials are only now beginning to understand the breadth and severity of the hack. Because of the careful and stealthy nature of the incursion, a full damage assessment and recovery operation “is a months, if not yearslong, ordeal,” a senior intelligence official said.
“The scope of it is pretty stunning,” the official said. “The most disconcerting thing is the uncertainty around what [computer] systems they are in.” The official added that there was no evidence that classified systems had been violated, but cautioned that was a preliminary conclusion.
Past U.S. responses to Russian hacking and disinformation operations—sanctions, property seizures, diplomatic expulsions, even the cyber equivalent of warning shots—appear to have done little to dissuade the Kremlin. Moscow has denied responsibility for the latest incursion.
Read More: Computer Hack Blamed on Russia Tests Limits of U.S. Response