DHS warns of new Russia hacks as US sanctions Russia over election interference

Enlarge / Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin sees what you did there, Russia. (credit: Getty Images)

The Treasury Department announced new economic sanctions today on the Russian Federation and on individuals and organizations implicated in interference with the 2016 US presidential elections-just as the Department of Homeland Security released a new warning of new "Russian government cyber activity" aimed at the US government and US critical infrastructure providers.

The sanctions are being carried out as part of an amendment to the Executive Order signed by President Barack Obama in 2015. The Trump administration imposed the new sanctions-the first the administration has imposed under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed by Congress last year-a month after officially blaming Russian intelligence for the NotPetya worm.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the sanctions, explaining that "the administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in US elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure." The new sanctions, he said, are part of "a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia. Treasury intends to impose additional CAATSA sanctions, informed by our intelligence community, to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities by severing their access to the US financial system."

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