The Russian attack should put the Colombian government on alert about the cybersecurity of its institutions.
Important news has managed to sneak past Colombia.
And it shouldn’t have. The news is that Russia staged a massive cyberattack on more than 250 U.S. government institutions and businesses.
Amounting to an unprecedented scale of aggression and, three weeks after it was discovered, still nobody knows the extent of the impact. But it’s very serious. The Treasury, Commerce, State and Energy departments, as well as various sectors of the Pentagon, were compromised, as well as the technology giant, Microsoft.
American cybersecurity systems, in every sense, sprung a leak. The Russians, once again, mocked the leading world power, right under the incompetent, narcissistic and irresponsible nose of President Donald Trump.
“It’s clear the United States government missed it,” said Sen. Mark Warner. “This is looking much, much worse than I first feared.” And the senator has good reason to be fearful. To date, authorities have more questions than answers.
Saturday’s edition of The New York Times revealed details of the attack, the ineffectiveness of national security agencies, and the fragility of its most powerful institutions and businesses.
Congress wants to know how Russian hackers could penetrate, seemingly without a problem, at least six of the most important federal agencies in the United States.
Press reports indicate that the cyberattack began last March, and it’s unknown how much information the hackers could have access to.
Worse still, this type of attack is not something that can be stopped from one day to the next, and the hackers may still be able to access confidential information.
Trump, ever submissive to the Kremlin, has been more concerned about tweeting that his election was stolen (a baseless accusation) than about putting together a forceful response to Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s silence affirms the diminishing world leadership he has bought to the country, which he has allowed to be polluted by the most mediocre people.
It remains to be seen what will happen after Jan. 20 when Joe Biden takes office. He’ll be looking to reclaim the United States’ place in the international arena, a task that will be difficult, if not impossible.
The clear decline of the U.S. that has become evident since Trump arrived in the White House will be a heavy burden to shed.
What is Russia looking for? Its dealings with the U.S. − and let’s remember that it’s nothing new; in 2016 they tried to interfere with the electoral process − as well as its spying operations throughout the world, Colombia included, show a Putin with global geopolitical ambitions.
The problem seems to be the world’s inability to stop it.
American authorities question whether focusing their efforts on protecting the election this year has caused them to neglect other concerns. It would appear so. The frightening thing is, if it can happen to a leading world power, how does it expose countries like ours?
The Russian attack is extremely serious and should put the Colombian government on alert about the state of the cybersecurity of each of its agencies, especially those most at risk, such as the defense and interior departments, to name a few.
This episode shakes up the map of global power.
The United States remains a Titan, but its is tired, apathetic and diminished. Russia has hit it where it hurts the most. This new war between the two powers should ring an alarm.
Venezuela, declared an enemy of Colombia by Iván Duque Marquez, is a key strategic ally of Russia in Latin America. There is nothing Venezuela values more than confidential information about our country.
Russia could give that information to Venezuela. Perhaps President Duque could tell us more about the issue on his “Hello President” show.”*
*Translator’s note: The author is referring to President Duque’s talk show that has been compared to a similar program once hosted by Venezuela’s former president, Hugo Chavez.
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