US Secretary of Defense halts Russia's cyber force plans

Pete Hegseth has only been US Secretary of Defense for a few weeks, but that is not stopping him from making a change in strategy, the implications of which have yet to be clarified: US Cyber Command, the US military's top command authority for cyber activities, is no longer to plan any further activities relating to Russia. Hegseth instructed the head of the authority and US General Timothy Haugh to do this. What exactly Hegseth's order covers and, above all, what effect it will have is still completely unclear.

Hegseth is imposing the change of course until further notice, as the US media outlet The Record reports, citing three anonymous insiders. If the order only affected military units involved in Russia-related electronic warfare, it would only affect a few hundred people. It would be different if it also concerned intelligence officers, analysts and capability development experts.

NSA to be spared

However, Hegseth apparently does not know exactly what he has in mind. In any case, Cyber Command is now to carry out a "risk analysis" that lists all the projects that have been stopped and what potential dangers could still emanate from Russia. Units of the command are also involved in activities in support of Ukraine, where the US military is hacking "defensively and offensively" for the benefit of the attacked country. According to The Record, it is at least certain that Hegseth's advance does not relate to members of the National Security Agency (NSA). Among other things, the NSA deals with Russia in the field of telecommunications intelligence.

As The Record also writes, Haugh is said to have forwarded the order to Major General Ryan Heritage, Director of Operations at Cyber Command. Heritage, who is about to retire, is familiar with all of Cyber Command's missions and knows which of them are still being planned or are already being carried out. He would also inform those affected if their mission was stopped. According to insiders, this could also affect the 16th Air Force unit. It is responsible for digital operations in Europe. When asked by The Record, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense would not comment on the matter.

Russia is apparently considered harmless

Hegseth's course follows a trend that the US magazine Wired has observed elsewhere. Threats from Russia are apparently becoming less of a priority under the Trump administration. The Assistant Secretary for International Cybersecurity at the US State Department, Liesyl Franz, said last week in a speech to a United Nations working group that the US was concerned about digital attacks from China and Iran, but did not mention Russia. And the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recently informed its employees of its priorities: According to them, the focus is on China and the defense of US systems; there was not a word about Russia.

(nen)