Debate over hackers’ motive rages amid calls for tough response [Bloomberg News :: BC-US-CYBERATTACKS-MOTIVE:BLO]
WASHINGTON — As researchers from Silicon Valley to Washington race to understand the full effect of the massive cyberattack that breached computer networks in the government and private sector, one of their thorniest unanswered questions centers on motive.
Already, investigators and government officials have pointed to an elite group of hackers tied to the Russian government and suggested a fairly obvious rationale: that it was an espionage operation aimed at nabbing classified intelligence and other inside information.
But some lawmakers and people involved in the investigations have said that the magnitude and breadth of the hack point to other objectives, including undermining Americans’ faith in the systems themselves. U.S. cybersecurity officials have warned that the attackers pose a “grave risk” to federal, state and local government agencies, in addition to the private sector and critical infrastructure, which could include anything from the electrical grid to transportation networks.