The White House made clear Wednesday that any offensive cyber activity against Russia will not violate U.S. policy to avoid a direct military conflict with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
The clarification came from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in response to a statement from the U.S. cyber command chief General Paul Nakasone.
Nakasone told Sky News on Wednesday that the United States had conducted a series of operations in Ukraine in the midst of the Russian invasion.
“We’ve conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum: offensive, defensive, (and) information operations,” Nakasone said in an interview with Sky News.
Although he did not elaborate on the nature of the operation, Nakasone said the activities were lawful and under civilian oversight.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government has been wary of cyberattacks from Russia. Part of the cyber command’s mission is to thwart hacking activities against the U.S.