U.S. Says It Secretly Preempted Russian Cyberattacks

“The United States said that it had secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world in recent weeks, a step to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks and send a message to President Vladimir Putin,” the New York Times reports.

“The move, made public by Attorney General Merrick Garland, comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia could try to strike American critical infrastructure — including financial firms, pipelines and the electric grid — in response to the crushing sanctions that the United States has imposed on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.”

“The malware enabled the Russians to create ‘botnets’ — networks of private computers that are infected with malicious software and controlled by the G.R.U., the intelligence arm of the Russian military.”