INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Officials did not identify any victims or provide details on the impact of the attacks
The United States and Britain on Monday warned of a global cyber attack
targeting routers and other networking equipment, blaming Russian government-backed hackers for the campaign on government agencies,
businesses and critical infrastructure operators.Washington and London issued a joint alert, saying the widespread, global campaign began in
2015 and could be escalated to launch offensive attacks.The alert comes two months after the United States and Britain accused Russia of
carrying out the damaging "NotPetya" cyber attack in 2017 that unleashed a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine's infrastructure and
damaged computers across the globe.American and British officials said the attacks affected a wide range of organizations including internet
service providers, private businesses and critical infrastructure providers
They did not identify any victims or provide details on the impact of the attacks."When we see malicious cyber activity, whether it be from
the Kremlin or other malicious nation-state actors, we are going to push back," said Rob Joyce, the White House cyber security
coordinator.The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Monday
Moscow has denied previous accusations that it carried out cyber attacks on the United States and other countries.United States
intelligence agencies last year accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election with a hacking and propaganda campaign supporting Donald
Trump's campaign for president
Last month the Trump administration blamed Russia for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the
United States power grid.Britain and the United States said they issued the alert to help targets protect themselves and persuade victims
to share information with government investigators so they can better understand the threat."We don't have full insight into the scope of
the compromise," said Jeanette Manfra, a cyber security official for the United States Department of Homeland Security.The alert is
unrelated to the suspected chemical weapons attack in a town in Syria that prompted a United States -led military strike over the weekend
targeting facilities of the Russian-backed Syrian government, Joyce said.United States and British officials warned that infected routers
could be used to launch future offensive cyber operations."They could be pre-positioning for use in times of tension," said Ciaran Martin,
chief executive of the British government's National Cyber Security Centre cyber defence agency, who added that "millions of machines"
were targeted.Some private-sector cyber security experts have criticized the United States government for being too slow to release
information about cyber attacks
Monday's announcement appears to reflect a desire to publicize a threat quickly and widely even before officials completely understand its
breadth.A senior United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been a steady increase in Russian cyber attacks
in recent years."It's harder to track, attribute and respond immediately to a cyber attack than it is to know who fired a missile," the
