Americas, Content

U.S. Sanctions Russia Over SolarWinds Cyberattack, Election Interference

The Biden administration has launched sanctions against Russia to punish the country for allegedly launching the SolarWinds Orion cyberattack and interfering in U.S. presidential elections.

The U.S. sanctions against Russia, according to CBS as well as a White House fact sheet, include:

  • Evicting at least 10 Russian individuals from the U.S., including intelligence officials and diplomats;
  • an executive order barring U.S. financial institutions from purchasing ruble-denominated bonds beginning in June of 2021; and
  • the Treasury department designated six Russian technology companies that provide support to the Russian Intelligence Services’ cyber program, ranging from providing expertise to developing tools and infrastructure to facilitating malicious cyber activities.  These companies are being designated for operating in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.
  • Positive Technologies, an IT security company that partners with Microsoft and IBM, was sanctioned by the U.S, the Associated Press reports.

The same day the sanctions were announced, The CISA and FBI released this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) alleging various Russia-led cyber threats.

"We will continue to hold Russia accountable for its malicious cyber activities, such as the SolarWinds incident, by using all available policy and authorities," the White House fact sheet said.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.