The Russian Intelligence Chief Naryshkin slammed accusations that it spearheaded the Solar Winds hack that breached US security months ago. He said that Joe Biden or his UK counterpart has no proof.
Russian Intelligence Chief Naryshkin slams accusations of involvement
According to the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service (SVR), who said calling Russian hackers responsible for breaching the Solar Winds firewall that got useful info on US agencies and companies, never happened according to Business Insider.
Last January, President Joe Biden's administration imposed new sanctions on Russia in April, alleging the cyberattack as a pretext. The Kremlin denies any role in the intrusion.
A twist to the narrative
SVR leader Sergei Naryshkin repeated the refusal to the BBC, arguing, "These claims are like a bad crime novel."
But this time, the SVR leader mentioned a bombshell that alleged the assault might have been carried out by the US-UK alliance, not Russian hackers. He added that the 2013 reports of leaks made by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Computer Weekly published details of secret documents that year documenting how the National Security Agency (NSA) and its British partner, GCHQ, collaborated with tech firms to integrate hidden bugs into encryption technology. This document enabled them to break most of the encryption used for private information such as emails and online transactions.
It was reported that the announcement sparked international condemnation, prompting then-President Barack Obama to assert that the NSA was not "trawling through" ordinary people's documents. Russian Intelligence Chief Naryshkin slammed accusations based on this possible allegation.
Naryshkin spoke to the BBC about the Solar Winds hack, saying, "I'm not suggesting this cybercrime was conducted by the US government agency, but the tactics are identical."
His thoughts were not further elaborated but established that the US may have a hand in attacking its computer networks.
The spy chief remarked any of the charges made targeting Russian intelligence services - "cyber threats, poisonings, hackings, election interference" - is "absurd" and "pathetic."
An attempted 2018 poisoning of former agent Sergei Skripal while in England to attempts to manipulate the 2016 US presidential election, Russia has been implicated in many intelligence-led attacks on foreign soil in recent times.
Saying what most Russian officials state as a denial that many of the accusations and other allegations are not valid. There was never any involvement by Kremlin, to begin with.
Exposing possible collusion of the US and UK
Business Insider said that the Solar Winds hack is still under investigation but will never be fully opened if the Russians were framed based on Naryshkin's viewpoint. Someone else did the online intrusion for speculative reasons.
Hackers penetrated the software firm used by hundreds of companies and governments and injected malicious software into its networks. Around March and June, any client who updated their software acquired a backdoor into their system, which hackers can abuse.
In a declaration released in January, the FBI, NSA, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure Protection Agency, and the Director of National Intelligence said the breach was probably intelligence gathering and pointed fingers at Russia, mentioned CISA.
The Russian Intelligence Chief Naryshkin slammed accusations that soviet hackers did it; it might be that the US and UK are not so innocent.
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