Mitt Romney slams Trump’s ‘silence’ over cyber-attack that’s like ‘Russian bombers repeatedly flying undetected’ over US
MITT Romney has slammed Donald Trump’s “silence” over the massive cyber-attack that he compared to “Russian bombers repeatedly flying undetected” over the US. United States Senator Mitt Romney took to Twitter on Thursday night to show his dismay in the White House’s “inaction.” Romney – a Republican who represents Utah in the Senate – shared a […]
MITT Romney has slammed Donald Trump’s “silence” over the massive cyber-attack that he compared to “Russian bombers repeatedly flying undetected” over the US.
United States Senator Mitt Romney took to Twitter on Thursday night to show his dismay in the White House’s “inaction.”
Romney – a Republican who represents Utah in the Senate – shared a statement on Twitter which read: “The cyber hack is like Russian bombers have been repeatedly flying undetected over our entire country.”
He then went on to list: “alarming US vulnerability,” “apparent cyber warfare weakness,” and “glaring inadequate cyber defenses.”
The politician added: “Inexcusable silence and inaction form the White House.”
Romney then insisted that the US is due for a “national security re-set that prioritizes cybersecurity capabilities and defenses.”
On Friday morning, President Trump wrote to Twitter: “The Russia Hoax becomes an even bigger lie!”
Alongside the statement was a retweeted article from The Federalist saying that the FBI “began probing Trump’s Russian connections before the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was opened.”
In addition to Romney’s Thursday tweet, the senator spoke with Sirius XM’s Chief Washington Correspondent on Thursday, USA Today reported.
In the interview, Romney again likened the recent cyber hacks to “Russian bombers.”
Romney told Olivier Knox: “They had the capacity to show that our defense is extraordinarily inadequate, that our cyber warfare readiness is extraordinarily weak, that they think so little of our ability that to fight back from a cyber standpoint, that they do this with impunity.
“So our national security is extraordinarily vulnerable.
“And in this setting, not to have the White House aggressively speaking out and protesting and taking punitive action is really, really quite extraordinary.”
The reported Microsoft breach emerged after:
- Russian spies “stole data from US government agencies“
- Kremlin hack is like “virtually declaring war on the US,” Dem says
- FBI says hack is “significant” and “ongoing threat” to the country
- Data breach may reportedly pose a “grave security threat”
Romney’s denouncing of the White House comes as Russian spies have been accused of “hacking Microsoft and infiltrating a US nuclear weapons stockpile” as thousands of firms were breached in a nine-month “virtual invasion.”
The malware used in the major breach – which poses a “grave threat” to America – was “isolated to business networks only” and has not affected US national security, an Energy Department spokeswoman has revealed.
Top senators on the Armed Services Committee reportedly on Thursday said the “ongoing” attack had “the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation” after the FBI confirmed the multi-department hack.
The Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration have proof that their networks were accessed by hackers, officials told Politico.
The networks of the NNSA and DOE, which sustain the nuclear weapons stockpile for the United States, were also hacked during the “extensive espionage operation.”
Hackers used various hacking techniques, including the corruption of updates of network management software by SolarWinds.
The SolarWinds hack may have impacted thousands of companies and government agencies, the DHS revealed.
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According to CISA, not all networks were hacked, but everyone should take the hack as no one is safe – even if the organizations used older versions of the SolarWinds software.
And the actually damage of the cyber attacks may take years to assess, experts said.