Kremlin: Russia will retaliate to attack on its interests

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41. Russian Hacker Attack Seen as Possible Response to New Sanctions

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-04-26/russian-hacker-attack-seen-as-possible-response-to-new-sanctions

U.S. officials and security specialists are warning that Russian hackers may respond to new Western sanctions by attacking the computer networks of U.S. banks and other companies.

U.S. officials involved in a White House review of the effects of further penalties on Russia didn’t respond to questions about whether it explores the risk of cyber-counterattacks. Even so, two people with knowledge of the study said it includes revisiting previous classified exercises in which small numbers of computer experts showed they were able to cripple the U.S. economy in a few days.

Cybersecurity specialists consider Russian hackers among the world’s best at infiltrating networks and say there’s evidence that they already have inserted malicious software on computers in the U.S....

“A cyber-attack is a real concern that we all need to have,” Smocer said. “Nation states’ ability to launch cyber-attacks is certainly real nowadays, and so in any conflict, I think that the possibility exists as we worry about escalation.”