U.S. military hackers have penetrated Russia's electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin's command systems, making them vulnerable to attack by secret American cyber weapons should the U.S. deem it necessary, according to a senior intelligence official and top-secret documents reviewed by NBC News.| Is there a reason why this is being discussed in the news? I would have assumed we had a competent counter-cyber team that could melt the best of Russian servers. Why are we talking about it in public the week before the election? |
It's been widely assumed that the U.S. has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News -- along with remarks by a senior U.S. intelligence official -- confirm that, in the case of Russia.
U.S. officials continue to express concern that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to try to disrupt next week's presidential election. U.S. intelligence officials do not expect Russia to attack critical infrastructure -- which many believe would be an act of war -- but they do anticipate so-called cyber mischief, including the possible release of fake documents and the proliferation of bogus social media accounts designed to spread misinformation.
On Friday the hacker known as "Guccifer 2.0" -- which U.S. officials say is a front for Russian intelligence -- tweeted a threat to monitor the U.S. elections "from inside the system."
And, just in time, Hillary Clinton enlists 'Daisy' from the 1964 ad to questions Trump on nukes