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https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-russias-info-warrior-hackers-let-kremlin-play-geopoliticson-the-cheap-11609592401

# How Russia’s ‘Info Warrior’ Hackers Let Kremlin Play Geopolitics on the Cheap

**[wsj.com/articles/how-russias-info-warrior-hackers-let-kremlin-play-geopolitics-on-the-cheap-11609592401](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-russias-info-warrior-hackers-let-kremlin-play-geopolitics-on-the-cheap-11609592401)**

January 2, 2021

A suspected Russian cyberattack of the federal government has breached at least six
cabinet-level departments. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains what the hack means for
President-elect Joe Biden's national security efforts. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

By [Georgi Kantchev](https://www.wsj.com/news/author/georgi-kantchev)

[in Moscow and Warren P. Strobel](https://www.wsj.com/news/author/warren-p-strobel)

in Washington
Jan. 2, 2021 8:00 am ET


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The sprawling SolarWinds hack by suspected Russian state-backed hackers is the latest
sign of Moscow’s growing resolve and improving technical ability to cause disruption and
conduct espionage at a global scale in cyberspace.

[The hack, which compromised parts of the U.S. government as well as tech companies, a](https://www.wsj.com/articles/hack-suggests-new-scope-sophistication-for-cyberattacks-11608251360?mod=article_inline)
hospital and a university, adds to a string of increasingly sophisticated and ever more brazen
online intrusions, demonstrating how cyber operations have become a key plank in Russia’s
confrontation with the West, analysts and officials say.

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