The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...against-russia-for-cyberattack-408619995.html
US Slaps Sanctions on Russia, Expels 35 Diplomats
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are referring to the Russian cyber activity associated (in part) with the election as code name "GRIZZLY STEPPE"
By Tami Abdollah and Josh Lederman
Published 5 hours ago | Updated 2 hours ago
In a sweeping response to election hacking, President Barack Obama on Thursday sanctioned Russian intelligence services and their top officials, kicked out 35 Russian officials and shuttered two Russian-owned compounds in the U.S. It was the strongest action the Obama administration has taken to date to retaliate for a cyberattack.
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," Obama said in a statement released while he was vacationing in Hawaii. He added: "Such activities have consequences."
Obama ordered sanctions against two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and the FSB, plus companies which the U.S. says support the GRU. The cybersecurity firm hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate theft of its emails determined earlier this year the hacking came from the Fancy Bear group, believed to be affiliated with the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency.
The president also sanctioned Lt. Gen. Korobov, the head of GRU, and three of his deputies. Other individuals sanctioned include Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russian nationals who have been wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Obama said the hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government," a contention the U.S. has used to suggest Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved.
Although the White House announced at the same time it was kicking out Russian officials and closing facilities, it said those were responses to other troubling Russian behavior: harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russian personnel and police.
The 35 Russian diplomats being kicked out are intelligence operatives, Obama said. The State Department said they are working in the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and the Russian Embassy in Washington. They are being declared "persona non grata," and will given 72 hours to leave the country.
The two compounds being closed down are recreational facilities owned by Russia's government, one in Maryland and one in New York, the U.S. said. The White House said Russia had been notified that Russia would be denied access to the sites starting noon on Friday.
The 45-acre property at Pioneer Point in Maryland was purchased by the Soviet government in 1972. On Thursday afternoon, Chopper4 video showed several unmarked cars and federal agents around the compound, NBC 4 Washington reported.
The New York property is on Long Island and is 14 acres. It was purchased by the Soviet government in 1954.
Russian officials have denied the Obama administration's accusation that the Russian government was involved at the highest levels in trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia's goal was to help Donald Trump win — an assessment Trump has dismissed as ridiculous.
The move puts the president-elect in the position of having to decide whether to roll back the measures once in office.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the move in a statement Thursday.
"Russia does not share America’s interests. In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them, sowing dangerous instability around the world," Ryan said in the statement. "While today’s action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia. And it serves as a prime example of this administration's ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world."
The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new sanctions were a sign of Obama's "unpredictable and, if I may say, aggressive foreign policy" and were aimed at undermining President-elect Donald Trump.
"We think that such steps by a U.S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm Russian-American ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect," Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
Russia responded angrily in anticipation of President Obama's announcement and suggested it might retaliate against American diplomats. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called it a last blow by Obama to U.S.-Russia relations and added, "We are tired of lies about Russian hackers that continue to be spread in the United States from the very top."
US Slaps Sanctions on Russia, Expels 35 Diplomats
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are referring to the Russian cyber activity associated (in part) with the election as code name "GRIZZLY STEPPE"
By Tami Abdollah and Josh Lederman
Published 5 hours ago | Updated 2 hours ago
In a sweeping response to election hacking, President Barack Obama on Thursday sanctioned Russian intelligence services and their top officials, kicked out 35 Russian officials and shuttered two Russian-owned compounds in the U.S. It was the strongest action the Obama administration has taken to date to retaliate for a cyberattack.
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," Obama said in a statement released while he was vacationing in Hawaii. He added: "Such activities have consequences."
Obama ordered sanctions against two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and the FSB, plus companies which the U.S. says support the GRU. The cybersecurity firm hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate theft of its emails determined earlier this year the hacking came from the Fancy Bear group, believed to be affiliated with the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency.
The president also sanctioned Lt. Gen. Korobov, the head of GRU, and three of his deputies. Other individuals sanctioned include Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russian nationals who have been wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Obama said the hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government," a contention the U.S. has used to suggest Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved.
Although the White House announced at the same time it was kicking out Russian officials and closing facilities, it said those were responses to other troubling Russian behavior: harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russian personnel and police.
The 35 Russian diplomats being kicked out are intelligence operatives, Obama said. The State Department said they are working in the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and the Russian Embassy in Washington. They are being declared "persona non grata," and will given 72 hours to leave the country.
The two compounds being closed down are recreational facilities owned by Russia's government, one in Maryland and one in New York, the U.S. said. The White House said Russia had been notified that Russia would be denied access to the sites starting noon on Friday.
The 45-acre property at Pioneer Point in Maryland was purchased by the Soviet government in 1972. On Thursday afternoon, Chopper4 video showed several unmarked cars and federal agents around the compound, NBC 4 Washington reported.
The New York property is on Long Island and is 14 acres. It was purchased by the Soviet government in 1954.
Russian officials have denied the Obama administration's accusation that the Russian government was involved at the highest levels in trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia's goal was to help Donald Trump win — an assessment Trump has dismissed as ridiculous.
The move puts the president-elect in the position of having to decide whether to roll back the measures once in office.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the move in a statement Thursday.
"Russia does not share America’s interests. In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them, sowing dangerous instability around the world," Ryan said in the statement. "While today’s action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia. And it serves as a prime example of this administration's ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world."
The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new sanctions were a sign of Obama's "unpredictable and, if I may say, aggressive foreign policy" and were aimed at undermining President-elect Donald Trump.
"We think that such steps by a U.S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm Russian-American ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect," Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
Russia responded angrily in anticipation of President Obama's announcement and suggested it might retaliate against American diplomats. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called it a last blow by Obama to U.S.-Russia relations and added, "We are tired of lies about Russian hackers that continue to be spread in the United States from the very top."