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US President Joe Biden has been presented with a “menu” of options for potential cyberattacks designed to disrupt Russia’s ability to sustain military operations in Ukraine. Four US unnamed sources said that no final decision had been made in this regard.
US intelligence officials say US intelligence and military cyber warriors are proposing the use of American cyberweapons on a scale never before contemplated. Among the options: disrupting internet connectivity across Russia, shutting off electric power, and tampering with railroad switches to hamper Russia’s ability to resupply its forces, three of the sources said.
The sources said the options presented include pre-emptive responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, irrespective of whether Russian launches its own cyberattacks on the US in retaliation for sanctions. They said most of the potential cyberattacks under consideration are designed to disrupt but not destroy, and therefore fall short of an act of war by the United States against Russia.
They say the idea is to harm networks, not people. Officials are debating the legal authorities under which the attacks would take place, whether they would be covert action or clandestine military activity. Either way, the US would not publicly acknowledge carrying out the operations, the sources say.
US Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the CIA and other agencies would have a role to play in the operations, the sources said.
There was a significant divide within the US government, with one camp fearful of escalating and another urging a strong cyber response.
Any use of cyberweapons to retaliate for the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a turning point for US cyber operations, which have largely been focused on intelligence gathering, information operations and targeted strikes, many of them for counterterrorism purposes. The most significant use of American cyber capability is believed to be the Stuxnet attack on the Iranian nuclear program from 2007 to 2010, which used computer malware to cause massive physical damage.
But the US has been laying the groundwork for years for possible cyber operations against Russia, China and other adversaries, experts say. Those countries have done the same on American infrastructure networks.
