In isolation, a July 23, 2018, report citing Homeland Security officials stating that Russian hackers have conducted hundreds of attacks against the United Stated electrical grid would be cause for alarm. In the echo chamber that has come to stand for news reporting, multiple news outlets are reporting on the same issue this week, all citing the same reporter. Given the continuing controversy surrounding the 2016 elections, adding the words “cyber” and “Russia” to a news article brings the equivalent of a four-alarm blast. Context is needed.
In March 2018, the Trump administration blamed the Russian government for a campaign of cyber attacks going back at least two years that targeted the U.S. power grid, marking the first time the United States publicly accused Russia of hacking into American energy infrastructure. The administration stated that beginning in March 2016 through 2017, Russian government hackers sought to penetrate U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation and manufacturing, according to a U.S. security alert published that month.
