U.S. will use a 'mix of tools seen and unseen' to respond to alleged Russia hack, national security adviser says


"It will be weeks, not months," before the United States has prepared a response to a major cyberattack allegedly carried out by the Russian government that included breaches of several U.S. federal agencies, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News' Margaret Brennan on Sunday.
Sullivan said the Biden administration has first asked the American intelligence community to keep gathering information on "how precisely this hack occurred" and to get a better sense of what the "scope and scale" of the damage is, but once that gets done, the U.S. will make its move.
Brennan, pointing out that simply sanctioning the Kremlin hasn't deterred Russian President Vladimir Putin over the years, asked Sullivan if the U.S. will consider other actions, as well. Sullivan did confirm the response "will not simply be sanctions because a response to a set of activities" like the hack "requires a more comprehensive set of tools," but he didn't provide any specifics, stating only that the U.S. will use "a mix of tools seen and unseen." Tim O'Donnell
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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