Thread by @jseldin

BREAKING: @TheJusticeDept charges 6 #Russia|n #GRU (military intelligence) hackers for #cyber attacks to destabilize or retaliate vs #Ukraine #Georgia; cyber attacks on #France’s 2017 elections & 2018 Olympics

Per @TheJusticeDept, the attacks caused nearly $1 billion in losses

All 6 hackers traced back to the #GRU’s Unit 74455

Asst Atty General John Demer calls the #Russia|n GRU #cyber operations "the most disruptive & most destructive series of attacks ever attributed to a single group"

New indictment "lays bare #Russia's use of its cyber capabilities to destabilize & interfere w/the domestic, political & economic systems of other countries" per @TheJusticeDept's Demers, calling recent Russian offer of a reset in #cyber relations "cynical & cheap propaganda"

Demers notes @TheJusticeDept "previously charged members of this same unit, also known to cyber security researchers as the SandWorm team. for their role in #Russia's efforts to interfere with the 2016 US elections"

"We make no election interference allegations here" he adds

"Rather today's charges illustrate how [#Russia's] Unit 74455's election activities were but one part of the work of a persistent, sophisticated hacking group busy sabotaging perceived enemies or detractors...regardless of the consequences to innocent bystanders" per Demers

"What we're charging is a conspiracy...that harmed American victims and American companies" Demers says of indictments vs #Russia GRU hackers

On #Election2020 - "Americans should be confident that a vote cast for a candidate will be a vote counted for that candidate" per @TheJusticeDept Asst AG Demers

Big picture: "No country has weaponized its #cyber capabilities as maliciously & irresponsibly as #Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented collateral damage to pursue small tactical advantages & fits of spite" per @TheJusticeDept Asst AG Demers

NEW: @StateDept @SecPompeo on charges vs Russian hackers

"These cyber activities demonstrate a complete disregard for public safety...#Russia, which presents itself as a champion of stability in cyberspace, is in fact one of the global internet’s greatest disruptors"

.@StateDept casting additional doubts on #Russia's offer for a #cyber reset, or offers to engage in #cyber arms control during @CSIS webinar

Asst Secretary of State for Int'l Security & Nonproliferation Christopher Ford calling such offers from #Russia - or #China - "quixotic"

“We continue to resist the temptation to engage in quixotic arms control efforts in cyberspace, especially when such proposals originate from the dictatorial regimes who are themselves responsible for some of the most egregious #cyber behavior in the world" per @StateDept's Ford

#Russia #China #cyber arms control proposals aim to "sort of co-opt the rhetoric of arms control" while instead supporting campaigns "by those authoritarian governments to legitimize oppressive controls over the political content of internet communications" per @StateDept's Ford