Published 04:09 IST, July 12th 2020
Trump confirms US launched cyber attack on Russia in 2018, accuses Obama of inaction
In an interview, Trump acknowledged that his administration had led efforts to stop the spread of disinformation around the 2018 midterm elections.
United States President Donald Trump has, for the first time confirmed, that the US launched a cyber attack on the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) in 2018. Speaking at an interview with an American media outlet, Trump acknowledged that his administration had led efforts to stop the spread of disinformation around the 2018 midterm elections.
Read: No Guarantee Trump Will Back India Against China If Tensions Escalate: Former US NSA John Bolton
To stop the spread of misinformation
As per reports, the cyber attack involved US cybercrime command disrupting the internet connection to IRA headquarters in St Petersburg on the night 2018 midterm elections, so as to stop Russians from spreading misinformation in the US.
In the interview, Trump not only said that he “acted on intelligence” when he ordered the cyber attack but also slammed former President Barack Obama for not taking similar actions in 2016. Moreover, he added that nobody in the US had been tougher than him when it comes to Russia.
Speaking about Obama, Trump said that despite being the President for eight years, and knowing that Russia was “playing around”, the former US President said 'nothing'. Accusing Obama of being biased, Trump further said that the reason the former president did not say anything was because he knew from the “phoney polls” that Hilary Clinton was winning.
In 2019, Russian authorities for the first time conceded that it was "possible" its electrical grid was under cyber attack by the United States. Later, a leading American daily reported that hackers from the United States Cyber Command had planted malware potentially capable of disrupting the Russian electrical grid.
Read: No Guarantee Trump Will Back India Against China If Tensions Escalate: Former US NSA John Bolton
Image credits: AP
Updated 04:09 IST, July 12th 2020