Massive hack likely ‘Russian in origin,’ US security agencies say
WASHINGTON — Top national security agencies in a rare joint statement Tuesday confirmed that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump’s claim that China might be to blame.
The statement represented the U.S. government’s first formal attempt to assign responsibility for the breaches at multiple agencies and to assign a possible motive for the operation. It said the hacks appeared to be part of an “intelligence-gathering,” suggesting the evidence so far pointed to a Russian spying effort rather than an attempt to damage or disrupt U.S. government operations.
“This is a serious compromise that will require a sustained and dedicated effort to remediate,” said the statement, distributed by a cyber working group comprising the FBI and other investigative agencies.
U.S. officials, including Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and cybersecurity experts have previously said Russia was to blame.
But Trump, in a series of tweets late last month, sought to downplay the severity of the hack and raised the unsubstantiated idea that China could be responsible.
Tuesday’s statement makes clear that is not the case, saying the intrusions are likely “Russian in origin.”
Russia has denied involvement in the hack.
The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized changes that weaken the govern
Wild bird protections:
ment’s enforcement powers under a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species, brushing aside warnings that billions of birds could die as a result.
Federal wildlife officials have acknowledged the move could result in more deaths of birds that land in oil pits or collide with power lines or other structures.
AU.S. District Court judge in August had blocked the administration’s prior attempt to change how the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is enforced.
But urged on by industry groups, the Trump administration has remained adamant that the act has been wielded inappropriately for decades, to penalize companies and other entities that kill birds accidentally.
More than 1,000 species are covered under the migratory bird law, and the move to lessen enforcement standards has drawn a sharp backlash from organizations that advocate on behalf of an estimated 46 million U.S. birdwatchers.
Easing of Qatar embargo:
Gulf Arab leaders signed a declaration Tuesday to ease a rift with Qatar, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to end a 3 ½ -year embargo of the tiny energy-rich country that deeply divided regional U.S. security allies and frayed social ties across the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi Arabia also said it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Qatar, although it was not clear how soon the step would be followed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, which had joined the kingdom in isolating the country over its regional policies.
OnMonday night, the eve of the Gulf Arab leaders’ summit in the ancient desert
city of Al-Ula, the Saudis announced they would open the kingdom’s airspace and borders to Qatar, the first major step toward ending the diplomatic crisis that began in 2017, when the Trump administration was starting to raise pressure on Iran.
It was unclear what, if any, significant concessions Qatar had made before the summit. Still, an immediate shift in tone was palpable as one of Qatar’s Al Jazeera Arabic news Twitter accounts shared photos of the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi skylines on Tuesday following years of critical coverage.
Iran Guard boards tanker:
Armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran, the vessel’s owner said Tuesday, the latest maritime seizure by Tehran amid heightened tensions with the West over its nuclear program.
The military raid Monday
on the MT Hankuk Chemi was at odds with Iranian explanations that they stopped the vessel for polluting the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it appeared the Islamic Republic sought to increase its leverage over Seoul ahead of negotiations over billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korean banks amid a U.S. pressure campaign targeting Iran.
An Iranian government spokesman, when asked on Tuesday about the seizure, offered Tehran’s bluntest acknowledgment yet of a link with the frozen assets.
“If anybody is to be called a hostage taker, it is the South Korean government that has taken our more than $7 billion hostage under a futile pretext,” spokesman Ali Rabiei said.
Iran on Monday also began enriching uranium up to 20%, a small technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%, at its underground Fordo
facility. That move appeared aimed at pressuring the U.S. in the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration, which unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Later on Tuesday, comments by the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program suggested Tehran’s current production of uranium enriched to 20% wouldn’t reach levels needed for a nuclear weapon for over two years, potentially giving time for negotiations under President-elect Joe Biden.
WHO ‘disappointed’ at Chinese delays:
The head of the World Health Organization said Tuesday that he is “disappointed” that Chinese officials haven’t finalized permissions for the arrival of a team of experts into China to examine origins of COVID-19.
Te d r o s Ad h a n o m Ghebreyesus, in a rare critique of Beijing, said
members of the international scientific team have begun over the last 24 hours to leave from their home countries to China as part of an arrangement between WHO and the Chinese government.
The experts, drawn from around the world, are expected to visit the city of Wuhan, which is suspected as the place that the coronavirus first emerged over a year ago.
Bond actress dies: Tanya Roberts, who captivated James Bond in “A View to a Kill” and appeared in the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” has died, several hours after she was mistakenly declared dead by her publicist and her partner. She was 65.
Lance O’Brien, her companion of nearly two decades, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center reached out to him on Monday at 9:30 p.m. PST to inform him that Roberts had died.