I would dearly love to see Ukrainian hackers start shutting down Russian power plants. Let people in Moscow feel some consequences of Putin's new idea of what constitutes normal international politics.
Posts: 12759 | Location: Williamsburg, VA | Registered: 19 July 2005
I was looking at a Lithuanian news site to see what they're saying about Ukraine. Neither Lithuania nor Latvia has evacuated anyone yet; their diplomats are still in place. The Lithuanian military is on alert.
The Biden administration sent about $650 million worth of military equipment to Ukraine in 2021, the most transfers since the equipping program began in 2014, and has notified Congress of its intent to transfer Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters to Ukraine, White House pres secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday. The helicopters, originally intended for shipment to Afghanistan before the government collapsed, were in Ukraine for refit when the Taliban took over Kabul.
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
Posts: 38222 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
The helicopters, originally intended for shipment to Afghanistan before the government collapsed, were in Ukraine for refit when the Taliban took over Kabul.
Well then, they don't have to go very far!
I'm sure one of the first things the Russians will do -- if they go deeper than merely make noise in the Donbas -- is bomb the sh!t out of any airbase that might contain weapons that could sting them. So we will have provided the Ukrainians with very expense scrap metal as a tripwire.
Posts: 12759 | Location: Williamsburg, VA | Registered: 19 July 2005
As tensions rise in the standoff over Ukraine, the Department of Homeland Security has warned that the U.S. response to a possible Russian invasion could result in a cyberattack launched against the U.S. by the Russian government or its proxies.
"We assess that Russia would consider initiating a cyber attack against the Homeland if it perceived a US or NATO response to a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine threatened its long-term national security," a DHS Intelligence and Analysis bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies around the country and obtained by ABC News said.
The US is considering restricting the flow of semiconductors into Russia to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. The move would prevent the Russian military and much of the nation’s economy from advancing technologically.
The details of the sanctions are still being decided, but they would rely on similar restrictions that kneecapped Huawei, the Chinese tech company. Though most semiconductors are made overseas, US companies control huge swaths of the larger market, from chip design and manufacturing equipment to process and quality control. By restricting access to those companies' products and services, the US can effectively limit Russian access to the latest chips, even if they’re made in other countries.
“It’s one of the tools that the US has come to prefer because it’s painful, but it doesn’t involve the use of force,” James Andrew Lewis, senior vice president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Ars. “It sort of freezes Russia at a technological moment.”
Though most of the restrictions will likely focus on companies that supply Russia’s military, either directly or indirectly, one place where consumers could feel the pinch is mobile phone service. If implemented, the restrictions would “box the Russians out of the 5G market,” Lewis said.
I don't think the world fully understands exactly what the US could do to THEM via cyber strike if we really wanted to. If the Russian hackers start locking up US hospitals, power plants, etc., I would expect the same to start happening all over Russia. I suspect our skills have advanced quite a bit over the old STUXNET days.
Posts: 12759 | Location: Williamsburg, VA | Registered: 19 July 2005
