Washington, D.C. — Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was just the most recent and aggressive expression of Russian interest in sowing chaos and disruption in the United States. For years, the Russian government has implemented an information warfare campaign designed to do more than undermine U.S. elections. Russian hacking has targeted U.S. banking and finance institutions, has sought access to the personal data of American citizens, has attempted to gain access to U.S. government and military servers, and has created a campaign of disinformation meant to undermine government institutions.
In an issue brief released today, the Center for American Progress outlines a few of the known Russian attempts to hack American institutions and explains how these attempts affect every American.
“The hacking of the U.S. election was just the tip of the iceberg,” said Michael Fuchs, CAP Senior Fellow and co-author of the brief. “Russia has, for years, been hacking their way into U.S. institutions in the hope of weakening Americans’ trust in those institutions. It is clear that the U.S. government and the American people need to better understand the nature of this threat. There needs to be an investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election as well as a more thorough approach to understanding the effects of Russian cyberattacks on all aspects of American life.”
The United States remains vulnerable to Russia’s dual approach to undermining U.S. institutions. If left unchecked, Russian cyberoperations will likely continue, building off of the success they had in November; their overt manipulation foreign institutions and media through disinformation and third-party intermediaries will also likely continue. Every American should be wary of the ways in which their own daily lives and personal privacy are violated by foreign powers.
Click here to read the brief.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.