NotPetya Allegations – Russia or U.S.?
Last week, the latest cyber weapon was revealed. NotPetya, a malware that is meant to seek and destroy data, attacked various business entities around the world. Now Ukraine, which appeared to be the primary target of NotPetya, is claiming the Russians are to blame. Although no official statement has been made from Russia, The Star Tribune, reported,
“Russian lawmaker Igor Morozov told the RIA Novosti news agency that the Ukrainian charges were fiction and that the attacks were likely the work of the United States.”
Startling accusation, considering U.S. businesses were also impacted by NotPetya, including pharmaceutical giant, Merck.
First of Many?
This could easily be the first of many “below the belt” comments from Russia targeting the U.S. According to The Raw Story, the Russian government has made threats toward the U.S. if the Pentagon pulls Russian-based security program, Kaspersky, from their computers. The U.S. is looking at alternative security solutions for the Pentagon that would better protect data security. One of the red flags with Kaspersky is the close relationship between the security company and the Russian government. A relationship Kaspersky claims is non-existent. Even to the extent to Eugene Kaspersky offering up the Kaspersky Lab source codes to the U.S. goverment to prove nothing malicious is occurring.
However, Russia’s Communications Minister, Nikolay Nikiforov, states,
“Any unilateral political sanctions put in place by the U.S. government would impact American companies that provide a huge proportion of American software and hardware solutions in the IT sphere, even in very sensitive areas, to Russia.”
Alarming, the Russian government would seek retaliation for the U.S. finding an alternative security program, when they have “no ties” to the one potentially being replaced. Unless of course, there is more going on…
Food for thought…
Russia accuses the U.S. of distributing a global cyber weapon. Russia also threatens to cease business relations with American software and hardware companies if the Pentagon drops Kaspersky software. But, if Russia truly believed the U.S. is responsible for NotPetya, wouldn’t they want to cut ties with U.S. software and hardware regardless of the Pentagon’s antivirus choice?
What are your thoughts on all of this? Drop a comment below.
