Russia to blame for NotPetya?

The White House and the United Kingdom yesterday released similar statements condemning Russia for perpetrating the June 2017 cyber attack that affected operations at Maersk Line, APM Terminals and FedEx, among others.    The governments of the United States and United Kingdom have accused the Russian government and its military of perpetrating the “most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history.”
   In separate but similar statements, the White House and the U.K. government yesterday condemned the Russian government for carrying out the June 2017 NotPetya cyber attack that affected operations at Maersk Line, APM Terminals and FedEx subsidiary TNT Express, among others.
   Both A.P. Møller-Maersk Group, parent of ocean carrier Maersk Line and port terminal operator APMT, and FedEx reported significant negative financial impacts resulting from the attack.
   The White House said the attack, which caused billions of dollars in damage for companies operating in Europe, Asia and the Americas, “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,” it added.
   U.K. Foreign Office Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad said the decision to publicly attribute this incident to the Russian government “underlines the fact that the U.K. and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity.”
   “The attack masqueraded as a criminal enterprise but its purpose was principally to disrupt,” said Ahmad. “Primary targets were Ukrainian financial, energy and government sectors. Its indiscriminate design caused it to spread further, affecting other European and Russian business.”