The White House is accusing Russia of unleashing a large cyberattack against Ukraine last year, warning there will be unspecified “international consequences."

The Trump administration accused Russia of the NotPetya attack, which affected international businesses, hours after a similar accusation from the U.K. government Thursday.

“In June 2017, the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in statement.

Sanders continued: “The attack, dubbed ‘NotPetya,’ quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict. This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences.”

The statement did not specify what “consequences” Russia would face or which U.S. government entity determined Russia was responsible for the attack.

Russia’s government denied it was responsible on Thursday, after the British accusation.

"We categorically dismiss such accusations; we consider them unsubstantiated and groundless. It's not more than a continuation of the Russophobic campaign which is not based on any evidence," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Unlike the U.S. statement, which cited "billions of dollars" in damage, the U.K. asserted only "hundreds of millions of pounds." The attack caused an estimated $1.2 billion in damage to companies, the BBC reported. Corporate victims included shipping firm Maersk, which predicted losses at $200 billion to $300 billion.

The British government’s attribution came from the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre and, unlike the White House, struck a conciliatory tone.

“The Kremlin has positioned Russia in direct opposition to the West: it doesn’t have to be that way,” said U.K Minister of State for Cyber Tariq Ahmad. “We call upon Russia to be the responsible member of the international community it claims to be rather then secretly trying to undermine it."

The British statement said the computer attack prompted a ransom note, but no possibility for payment.

“The ransom note instructed victims to make payments to a single Bitcoin wallet with confirmation that they had paid. However, flaws in the payment process quickly became apparent as the ransom note did not display a ‘personal identification ID’ which would enable the attacker to know whose data to decrypt and the payment collection infrastructure was quickly taken down by the attacker’s email provider. The malware was not designed to be decrypted,” the British statement said.

The White House threat of "consequences" comes after the Trump administration decided earlier this year not to impose new sanctions targeting Russia. In January, the Trump administration said it would not impose sanctions on entities making military purchases from Russia because a law passed last year over President Trump’s objection was serving as a deterrent without actual enforcement.</s>The White House on Thursday blamed Russia for a massive cyberattack last year that crippled computer networks at multinational firms worldwide, vowing the hack would be met with “international consequences.”

A White House statement on the cyberattack came a day after the U.K. formally blamed Russia. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</s>The United States has followed Britain in formally blaming Russia with launching the “NotPetya” cyberattack that wrecked havoc around the globe last summer.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement Thursday afternoon attributing NotPetya to Moscow, echoing an announcement made hours earlier by the U.K. government.

“In June 2017, the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyberattack in history,” said Mrs. Sanders.

“The attack, dubbed ‘NotPetya,’ quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict,” said Mrs. Sanders.

The cyberattack was “reckless and indiscriminate,” she added, and “will be met with international consequences.”

Britain announced earlier Thursday that Russia was “almost certainly” responsible for the NotPetya attack, citing findings reached by the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre.

“We call upon Russia to be the responsible member of the international community it claims to be, rather then secretly trying to undermine it,” said Lord Tariq Ahmad, the U.K.’s foreign office minister for cybersecurity.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Kremlin categorically denies involvement and called the claims “unsubstantiated and groundless.”

“This is nothing but a continuation of a Russophobic campaign that is not based on any evidence,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier Thursday.

NotPetya successfully spread quickly from computer to computer by exploiting a Microsoft Windows vulnerability previously hoarded by the U.S. National Security Agency and leaked online last April by a hacking outfit known as Shadow Brokers.

The CIA has recently spent several months attempting to retried its cache of stole cyberweapons, The Intercept and The New York Times reported last week, and the agency recently spent $100,000 attempting to buy back compromised computer code, the latter reported.

NotPetya initially targeted Ukrainian computers before ultimately propagating abroad, infecting systems used by victims including American logistics firm FedEx, Dutch competitor Maersk and Russia’s Rosneft, among others, eventually causing hundreds of millions of dollars in related damages.

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.</s>In a fierce break from Kremlin-friendly rhetoric, the White House on Thursday condemned a cyber-attack launched by the Russian military on Ukraine.

Last year’s June malware attack, known as “NotPetya,” “was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Threatening “international consequences,” the Trump administration designated Russia’s initiative as “the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history.”

The statement is a sharp departure from a president who has consistently denied Russia involvement in the 2016 election, even as intelligence agencies presented findings to the contrary. In recent weeks, however, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have sniped at one another over international policy.

After Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced a grand strategy toward Syria involving the ousting of Putin-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow turned a cold shoulder to Washington. Despite the White House’s decision to hold off on sanctions against the Kremlin, Putin called the administration’s released list of Russian businessmen and oligarchs “a hostile step” in late January.

After meeting with Russian intelligence officials the week before, CIA Director Mike Pompeo warned in a BBC interview that the United States would retaliate “in a way that is sufficiently robust” should Russia interfere in this year’s upcoming midterm elections. U.S. intelligence officials echoed these sentiments during a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.

NotPetya has disabled operations in Ukraine’s central bank, the main airport in Kiev and Chernobyl’s nuclear facilities. Cyber-security experts warn that it was a test for future digital warfare to be employed against other countries.</s>LONDON -- The United States and Britain blamed the Russian government on Thursday for a cyberattack that hit businesses across Europe last year. The U.K. accused Moscow of "weaponizing information" in a new kind of warfare, and the White House said "the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history."

"The attack, dubbed 'NotPetya,' quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas," said a statement from the White House press secretary. "It was part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict. This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences."

Earlier, British Foreign Minister Tariq Ahmad said "the U.K. government judges that the Russian government, specifically the Russian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyberattack of June 2017."

The fast-spreading outbreak of data-scrambling software centered on Ukraine -- embroiled in a conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the country's east. It spread to companies that do business with Ukraine, including U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck, Danish shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk and FedEx subsidiary TNT. Ahmad said the "reckless" attack cost organizations hundreds of millions of dollars.

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Russia of "undermining democracy, wrecking livelihoods by targeting critical infrastructure, and weaponizing information" with malicious cyberattacks.

"We must be primed and ready to tackle these stark and intensifying threats," Williamson said.

Danish defense minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said intelligence agencies in Britain, Denmark and elsewhere had uncovered the Russian responsibility.

Speaking at a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, he said the hack was meant to cause damage and should "be compared with a military attack."

"We categorically deny the accusations. We consider them unfounded and baseless and see them as continuation of groundless Russophobic campaign," he said in a conference call with reporters.</s>WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday blamed Russia for the devastating ‘NotPetya’ cyber attack last year, joining the British government in condemning Moscow for unleashing a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure and damaged computers in countries across the globe.

The attack launched in June 2017 by the Russian military “spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

“It was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict,” Sanders said. “This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber attack that will be met with international consequences.”

The strongly worded but brief statement was the first time the U.S. government has blamed Russia for what is considered one of the worst cyber attacks on record. Many private sector security experts had fingered Moscow months ago.

The statement came days after leaders of U.S. intelligence agencies again warned that Russia, and potentially other adversaries, were likely to attempt to use cyber means to meddle in the U.S. midterm elections in November.

Experts said the White House vow of a response needed to be met with clear action, especially because U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to improve relations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and has at times appeared dismissive of the cyber threat posed by Russia.

The U.S. government is “reviewing a range of options,” a senior White House official said when asked what consequences Russia would face.

It was not clear what those options were, nor what was meant by “international consequences.”

Earlier on Thursday Russia denied being behind the attack, saying the accusations were part of a “Russophobic” campaign that it said was being waged by some Western countries.

The White House had intended to release a statement about ‘NotPetya’ at the same time as London, but those plans were delayed due to a school shooting in Florida, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The U.S. government has been quicker to blame other nations, most notably North Korea, for destructive cyber attacks, including the WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017.

Some administration officials have worried that publicly blaming Russia without imposing some cost could raise questions about why the United States was not retaliating, said two sources familiar with the internal debate.

Others argued that because the United States also conducts covert cyberspace operations that could not be discussed in public, the statement attributing blame to Moscow required no elaboration, the sources said.

In addition to covert operations, retaliation could take the form of further sanctions on Russia or other diplomatic penalties.

Trump has resisted the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow also meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. After he met Putin in Vietnam last November, Trump said he believed the Russian leader when he denied his government interfered in the election.

Democrats and some Republicans have criticized the Trump administration for not imposing sanctions that were passed unanimously by Congress last summer and were intended to punish Moscow for meddling in the 2016 election.

“With Russia, if we are promised consequences, people are going to be looking for tangible proof” of a response, said Kenneth Geers, a security researcher at the cyber firm Comodo and former U.S. intelligence official who works at NATO’s think tank on cyber defense.

“Otherwise it seems like a real empty promise.”

The NotPetya attack started in Ukraine, where it crippled government and business computers before spreading around Europe and the world, halting operations at ports, factories and offices.

Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement released earlier in the day that the attack originated from the Russian military.

“The decision to publicly attribute this incident underlines the fact that the UK and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The attack masqueraded as a criminal enterprise but its purpose was principally to disrupt,” it said.

“Primary targets were Ukrainian financial, energy and government sectors. Its indiscriminate design caused it to spread further, affecting other European and Russian business.”</s>The White House's story about who knew what when about accusations of domestic violence against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter has been anything but clear.

Now, House Republicans have decided to open an investigation to get some clarity.

"I'm troubled by almost every aspect of this," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said on CNN on Wednesday morning. "How in the hell was he still employed?"

Gowdy's oversight committee penned a letter to the White House on Wednesday morning and released it on Twitter. It notes that FBI Director Christoper Wray appeared to contradict the White House on its timeline on the handling of the matter — and it wants to know "what information was available to the adjudicator of Porter's interim clearance at the time it was adjudicated; who adjudicated his clearance; and what derogatory information was subsequently made available to the White House on Porter, when, and to whom."

Gowdy notes in the letter that he wants answers to those and several other questions in two weeks, by Feb. 28.

Even Vice President Pence criticized the White House's handling of the scandal Wednesday.

"The White House could've handled this better," he said during an event in Washington sponsored by the website Axios, per NPR's Tamara Keith. But, Pence added, he has "great confidence" in chief of staff John Kelly.

"John Kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for president of the United States," Pence said, "and I look forward to continuing to work with him for many, many months to come."

Gowdy also notably received the support of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who said Wednesday that the White House "has work to do" to fix the vetting process and that the White House should "absolutely" condemn domestic violence.

Instead of immediately condemning domestic violence, President Trump has twice seemed to defend Porter and another staffer who resigned amid domestic abuse allegations. He tweeted on Saturday, for example, that "lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation."

On Wednesday — a week after the Porter story initially broke — Trump finally weighed in more directly, telling reporters during a photo op for an event related to the recently enacted tax cut law that he is "totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind, and everybody here knows that."

He reiterated: "I'm totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that. And it almost wouldn't even have to be said. So, now you hear it, but you all know."

Unlike most scandals over the first year of the Trump presidency, the Porter one has had staying power. It has been in focus for a week now. And much of that is because of the White House's handling of it.

That is something White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah acknowledged Thursday.

"We all could have done better," Shah told reporters. But, he added, "The emerging reports were not reflective of the individual who we had come to know."

Often, though, that is the case when it comes to domestic abuse.

Ranking member Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, echoed Gowdy in wanting to talk to White House counsel Don McGahn, Kelly, Wray "and others to determine what they knew and when they knew it."

Cummings noted that he is also "extremely frustrated that our [c]ommittee has done nothing over the past year to address the completely dysfunctional security clearance system at the White House."

Porter was serving in the role as staff secretary — a key role as the person responsible for filtering what the president sees and reads — under an interim security clearance.

Wray testified that the FBI had wrapped up its background investigation into Porter last July, but Porter wasn't forced out of the White House until a Daily Mail story was published, and a photo of Porter's first wife with a black eye was made public.

The White House initially seemed to indicate it only recently learned of the allegations and that it took immediate action. Politico reported that once he was briefed on the allegations, Kelly told staff, Porter "was gone 40 minutes later."

But, Politico also reported, that "in the hours immediately after" the first published stories about the allegations," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders "hastily arranged an off-the-record meeting in the West Wing with Porter" and influential reporters at which Porter was allowed to relay "his version of events and fielded questions from the group."

That is what is usually done when a White House is trying to circle the wagons and keep someone on board, not fire them.

For Gowdy, though, the White House's slowness to act — and its instinct to defend Porter — is a problem.

"How do you have any job if you have credible allegations of domestic abuse?" said Gowdy, who announced two weeks ago that he was not running for re-election. "Again, I am biased toward the victim."</s>"In June 2017, the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history. The attack, dubbed "NotPetya," quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It was part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict. This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences."

NotPetya was a wiper worm that invaded companies' and government agencies' computers in the Ukraine, the US, parts of Asia, Europe, Australia and even Russia itself in 2017. It was disguised as a ransomware, presumably so that the media would cover it as a follow-up to the WannaCry ransomware, which infected over 200,000 computers all over the globe and also caused hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in damages. In the end, security researchers determined that NotPetya is a wiper designed to overwrite data.

Press Secretary Sanders didn't elaborate on what those international consequences would be, but a senior White House official told Reuters that the administration is already "reviewing a range of options." As for Russia's response, well, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov already denied the allegations even before the White House issued its statement.</s>The United States on Thursday publicly blamed Russia for carrying out the so-called NotPetya cyber-attack last year that crippled government and business computers in Ukraine before spreading around the world.

The statement by the White House came hours after the British government attributed the attack to Russia, a conclusion already reached and made public by many private sector cyber security experts.

The attack in June of 2017 'spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

'It was part of the Kremlin´s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia´s involvement in the ongoing conflict,' Sanders added.

'This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences.'

Britain's foreign minister for cyber security earlier said the Kremlin was responsible for 'malicious cyber activity'.

The attack last year targeted Ukraine and spread across Europe. Its primary targets were the Ukrainian financial, energy, and government sectors.

Ukraine has been locked in a simmering conflict with Russian-backed separatists since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

But it was designed to spread further and affected other European and Russian firms in June.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday he denies Russia was responsible for the 'NotPetya' cyber-attack last year, after the White House on Thursday joined the British government in accusing Moscow of the attack.

In response to a question about the attack, he said he reiterated comments made on Thursday, when he said that the allegations by a British official about 'NotPetya' attack were groundless and part of a 'Russophobic' campaign being conducted in some Western countries.

Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Vladimir Putin of 'ripping up the rule book'.

He told the Daily Mail: 'We have entered a new era of warfare, witnessing a destructive and deadly mix of conventional military might and malicious cyber attacks.

'Russia is ripping up the rule book by undermining democracy, wrecking livelihoods by targeting critical infrastructure, and weaponising information. We must be primed and ready to tackle these stark and intensifying threats.'

Foreign minister for cyber security Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said the UK's decision to identify the Kremlin as responsible for the attack underlines the fact the Government will not tolerate 'malicious cyber activity'.

He said: 'The UK Government judges that the Russian government, specifically the Russian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyber attack of June 2017.

'The attack showed a continued disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty. Its reckless release disrupted organisations across Europe costing hundreds of millions of pounds.'

He added: 'The Kremlin has positioned Russia in direct opposition to the West yet it doesn't have to be that way. We call upon Russia to be the responsible member of the international community it claims to be rather then secretly trying to undermine it.

'The United Kingdom is identifying, pursuing and responding to malicious cyber activity regardless of where it originates, imposing costs on those who would seek to do us harm.

'We are committed to strengthening co-ordinated international efforts to uphold a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace.'

His comments point to UK intelligence agencies discovering evidence indicating the involvement of the Russian military.</s>The White House has blamed Russia for the devastating 'NotPetya' cyber attack last year, joining the British government in condemning Moscow for unleashing a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine's infrastructure and damaged computers in countries across the globe.

The attack in June of 2017 "spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"It was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict," Sanders added. "This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber attack that will be met with international consequences."

The U.S. government is "reviewing a range of options," a senior White House official said when asked about the consequences for Russia's actions.

Earlier on Thursday Russia denied an accusation by the British government that it was behind the attack, saying it was part of a "Russophobic" campaign that it said was being waged by some Western countries.

The so-called NotPetya attack in June started in Ukraine where it crippled government and business computers before spreading around Europe and the world, halting operations at ports, factories and offices.

Britain's foreign ministry said in a statement released earlier in the day that the attack originated from the Russian military.

"The decision to publicly attribute this incident underlines the fact that the UK and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity," the ministry said in a statement.

"The attack masqueraded as a criminal enterprise but its purpose was principally to disrupt," it said.

"Primary targets were Ukrainian financial, energy and government sectors. Its indiscriminate design caused it to spread further, affecting other European and Russian business."
The United Kingdom government and the United States White House accuse the Russian military of being responsible for the launch of the NotPetya malware in June 2017. The White House calls it the most destructive and costly cyberattack in history and says Russia will be met with unspecified "international consequences". Russia denies responsibility and dismisses the accusation as "groundless", lacking evidence, and "Russophobic".