Sen. Dick Durbin says alleged Russian hack 'virtually a declaration of war'
The Illinois senator vowed 'there will be a price to pay for this'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois called the alleged Russian-backed hack of government agencies and corporations "virtually a declaration of war," according to a report.
"We need an honest reset in terms of relationships between the United States and Russia," Durbin told CNN on Wednesday.
"We can’t be buddies with Vladimir Putin and have him at the same time making this kind of cyberattack on America. This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States, and we should take it that seriously," the minority whip added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
Durbin’s comments come after President Trump’s former Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that the vastness of the intrusion was "hard to overstate."
"The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months," Bossert wrote.
On Thursday, Durbin vowed during a speech in the Senate that "there will be a price to pay for this," according to the Daily Mail.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is nothing short of a virtual invasion by the Russians into critical accounts of the federal government," he said. "When adversaries such as Russia torment us, tempt us, breach the security of our nation, we need to respond in kind."
RUSSIA'S SUSPECTED HACKING OPERATION TARGETED 5 US AGENCIES, 18K ENTITIES
He noted, however, that he was not calling for an "all-out war."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President-elect Joe Biden also promised a tough response, saying in a statement: "Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation."
He vowed to "disrupt and deter" future cyberattacks by "imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners," the Daily Mail reported.
Reuters reported Sunday that Russian-backed hackers infiltrated internal email systems at the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, spying on communications for months.
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Government intelligence officials fear the hackers may have gotten into the records of other federal agencies, Reuters reported, citing three anonymous sources briefed on the matter.
The FBI is investigating the breaches by a group working for the Russian Foreign intelligence service, SVR, according to The Washington Post.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The group, known as APT29 or Cozy Bear, was also behind a hack of the White House and State Department during the Obama administration, the report said.
It’s not clear exactly what information was accessed during the more recent hacks. But the cyber break-ins appeared so serious that the National Security Council met at the White House to discuss it on Saturday, sources told Reuters.
It is thought to be connected to a larger campaign that also included the recently-disclosed hack of the major U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye.
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The White House has not yet commented on the breach, but a US official who was asked if Russia was behind it said: "We believe so. We haven’t said that publicly yet because it isn’t 100 percent confirmed," the Daily Mail reported.