US government’s Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on 5 Russian companies and 3 Russian Nationals said to have helped the Russian Federal Security Services to launch cyber attacks on the critical infrastructure of United States in February this year.
In a statement issued by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, it was clearly mentioned that the sanctions were imposed to punish foreign hackers working hand-in-hand with the Vladimir’s Putin’s government which was trying hard to jeopardize the safety and security of the United States and Allies.
A source from Associated Press says that the sanctions were imposed in retaliation to the NotPetya attack, as well as intrusions carried out on US Energy grid and global network infrastructure by Russian intelligence.
The source adds that US Intelligence recently detected Russian efforts to track and sabotage undersea cables carrying global internet communications.
As web connectivity allows the populace of different continents connects with each other, Russia is planning to disrupt it to bring the digital world to a halt.
According to the Associated Press, Digital Security Plus and two of its subsidiaries- ERPScan and Embedi, Kvant Scientific Research Institute, and Diventechnoservices will face the new sanctions. Aleksander Lvovich Tribun, Oleg Sergeyevich Chirikov and Vladimir Yakovlevich Kaganskiy working for Diventechnoservices will also face the sanctions.
Note- In 2017, Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in US Presidential Elections. It expelled 35 Russian Nationals from its country.
