News of Russian hacking in U.S. election called ‘explosive’

The head of the British Secret Intelligence Service has added his voice to U.S. officials’ complaints about Russian cyber-interference in domestic political affairs. U.S. Central Intelligence officials recently said Russia had intervened in the presidential election campaign with the specific aim of helping Donald Trump win.

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Reports are ‘very credible’

“Every sign is that the reports are very credible,” says Wesley Wark, a leading Canadian expert in national security issues and a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa. “This is a new finding in terms of the specifics of what Russia was trying to achieve and it’s a very explosive accusation.” He notes that officials in Germany, Italy and Sweden have also expressed concern about Russian cyber interference in domestic politics.

Domestic affairs are supposedly off-limits

“What it reflects is a long-held understanding about how the international system is supposed to work. This goes back over centuries,” says Wark. “There was always an understanding that there was a red line to which states should not, for the most part, attempt to pass or breach. And that red line was that states did not deliberately interfere in a systematic way in the domestic politics of other states in the global community.

“That rule has been breached from time to time, of course, but I think what western countries are increasingly concerned about is that Russia doesn’t recognize the rule at all and is prepared to systematically breach it without restraint.”

Russian view action as tit-for-tat

Wark points out that the Russian leaders and people believe that western countries are engaging in the same kind of cyber interference and they view western complaints as hypocritical. Wark firmly believes this is not true, but says that makes no difference to Russians.

For now, his assessment is that hackers have the upper hand, but that security is improving in Canada and other western countries. After suffering some damaging cyberattacks from China, Canada has negotiated some restraint with Chinese officials. Wark suggests that could happen between other countries as well.