"The gvt of #Russia views the US as its primary adversary..." Kurtis Ronnow, deputy asst dir for of the @FBI's Counterintelligence Division, tells @USChamber during virtual briefing on #cyber
"#Russia's malign influence efforts are ongoing" & involve #cyber, other means, per @FBI's Ronnow
US officials "remain concerned" #Russian cyber criminals will target US businesses, critical infrastructure in support of #Russia's ops in #Ukraine, Mike Herrington, section chief of the @FBI's Cyber Division tells @USChamber
W/#Russia#cyber actions - "The attack is the point...the think they can break American will with indiscriminate attacks" per @FBI Cyber's Herrington
"We have a very low threshold for activity right now" per @FBI Cyber's Herrington, who asks US companies to have a low threshold as well and contact authorities if they notice something is wrong
"#Russia is continuing to explore options for potential #cyber attacks" @CISAgov deputy exec asst director Matthew Hartman tells @USChamber
"We remain concerned that #Russia|n #cyber criminals will target US critical infrastructure w/#ransomware attacks either in support of the Russian gvt or to take advantage of even more permissive operating environment in Russia" per @FBI's Herrington
"There's now evolving intelligence that #Russia may be exploring options for potential cyber attacks" per @FBI's Herrington
"We remain most concerned with targeted cyber attacks against our energy, financial, transportation, government, telecommunications and IT sectors"
w/#Russia & #cyber, "the attack is the point..they're not necessarily being selective about one particular target" per @FBI's Herrington
"They think they can break American will with indiscriminate or random attacks"
"But we don't know everything the #Russia|n intelligence services are doing" per @FBI's Herrington "These are sophisticated actors that constantly shift their tactics"
#Russia cyber actors still seem to be searching, developing possible targets even tho it hasn't targeted US companies or infrastructure in a big way yet, per @CISAgov's Hartman
"We do not know at what point a calculus may change"
#Russia using #cyber as a combat multiplier in #Ukraine - it just hasn't expanded the use of cyber much beyond Ukraine so far, per @FBI's Herrington
"As Russia fall under greater pressure to show progress in this war, there's a real risk they become more aggressive" in cyber
"We are seeing glimpses into targeting and into access development" by #Russia w/critical infrastructure, per @CISAgov's Hartman
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"We're constantly monitoring the threat environment w/escalation management clearly in mind" per @PentagonPresSec on US aid to #Ukraine "it would be irresponsible if we didn't do that"
"As we work these pkgs, these weapons & systems that we're sending to #Ukraine...we're doing it mostly with an eye towards what does Ukraine need in the fight that they're in right now" per @PentagonPresSec
"The consistent answer that we get back is they need long range fires"
"Our focus is on making sure that we can advantage #Ukraine on the battlefield & therefore hopefully advantage them when it comes to an ultimate peace there" per @PentagonPresSec
...this despite Russian claims its used a new generation of lasers to counter drones
US assesses #Russia is behind where it wants to be as far as progress in the #Donbas, w/Russian progress slow, uneven, per @PentagonPresSec
Says every day there are "hamlets towns and villages that are changing hands" between Russia & #Ukraine
US @SecDef Lloyd Austin to virtually host meeting of the #Ukraine Contact Group this coming Monday - more than 40 nations expected to take part, per @PentagonPresSec
"Russia's continuing their offensive in the northern #Donbas...but no major shift in territorial control by either side" per senior US defense official
"We continue to see the #Ukrainians continue to claw back territory north and northeast of #Kharkiv" per senior US defense official
ICYMI: #Britain's @DefenceHQ says #Russia "has fired senior commanders who are considered to have performed poorly during the opening stages of its invasion of #Ukraine"
Pentagon downplays #Taliban efforts to build its own air force
"The relatively small number of former AAF aircraft believed to be in operational condition does not pose a capable military threat to regional stability outside #Afghanistan" per @DeptofDefense spox Maj Rob Lodewick
"With the exception of a pair of #Blackhawk helicopters, the former AAF aircraft that have been seen flying in #Afghanistan are old legacy aircraft that DoD did not provide nor previously sustain" per @DeptofDefense spox Maj Rob Lodewick in response to question from @VOANews
"The #Taliban will likely continue to focus the use of its limited air assets against anti-Taliban threats within #Afghanistan" per @DeptofDefense's Maj Lodewick
#Russia|n progress overall "fairly limited...a few kilometers maybe every day" per a senior US defense official
#Russia|n military offensives becoming smaller, more localized - US seeing "a shrinking of their offensives & their goals...using smaller units" per a senior US defense official