US tipped France to Russian election hacking, says Cyber Command chief

WASHINGTON — The U.S. watched as Russia “penetrated” French systems during the election run up and gave French officials “a heads up,” Adm. Mike Rogers said Tuesday.

Rogers, who also serves as the director of the National Security Agency, said the U.S. is also cooperating with Britain and Germany amid fears that Russia will attempt to sway the outcome of their elections.

United States Cyber Command

Seal of the United States Cyber Command.png

Emblem of U.S. Cyber Command

Active 23 June 2009–present

Country United States of America

Type Subordinate Unified Command

Advanced Persistent Threat Unit

Role Cyber Warfare

Administration

Part of U.S. Strategic Command

Garrison/HQ Fort George G. Meade, Maryland

Nickname(s) USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM

Commanders

Current

commander Admiral Michael S. Rogers, USN

"We had become aware of Russian activity. We had talked to our French counterparts prior to the public announcements of the events that were publicly attributed (to Russia) this past weekend and gave them a heads up. Look, we're watching the Russians; we're seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure," Rogers said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Russia

Country

Russia, the world’s largest nation, borders European and Asian countries as well as the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Its landscape ranges from tundra and forests to subtropical beaches. It’s famous for Moscow's Bolshoi and St. Petersburg's Mariinsky ballet companies. St. Petersburg, founded by Russian leader Peter the Great, has the baroque Winter Palace, now housing part of the State Hermitage Museum’s art collection.

Capital: Moscow

Population: 144.1 million (2015) World Bank

President: Vladimir Putin

Currency: Russian ruble

Government: Semi-presidential system

GDP per capita: 9,057.11 USD (2015) World Bank

Continent: Europe, Asia

Tens of thousand of internal emails and other documents were released online ahead of the French elections May 5, 2017. Cyber research firms have reportedly linked the coordinated cyberattack on France’s president-elect, Emmanuel Macron, to a group affiliated with Russia that is blamed for meddling in U.S. elections.

Rogers told lawmakers that the pace of cyberattacks by Russia has not slackened since the U.S. elections and that the new administration is developing a cyber deterrence policy and strategy that spells out what constitutes an act of war in cyberspace.  

United States of America

Country in North America

The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.

Capital: Washington, D.C.

Dialing code: +1

President: Donald Trump

Population: 321.4 million (2015)

Gross domestic product: 17.95 trillion USD (2015) World Bank

GDP per capita: 55,836.79 USD (2015) World Bank

He added that Russia's goal in manipulating the U.S. election was to undercut America's democratic principles, to weaken Hillary Clinton and — more broadly  — to help leaders who might be more supportive to Russia. Lawmakers of both parties pressed Rogers that such a policy is long overdue. 

"We have a new team in place and they are working through this," Rogers said. "I know these discussions are ongoing. ... I don't want anyone walking away thinking nothing's going on ... that we're not grappling with these very tough problems."