Russia may be responsible for several computer hacks into U.S. companies involved with liquified natural gas two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Fox News reported Wednesday.
According to the report, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working to confirm that Russia is responsible for computer hacks into 21 companies including Chevron Corporation and Cheniere Energy in what may have been an effort to destabilize the U.S. energy industry.
The Fox News report cited a "source familiar with the intelligence" who said that the computers of current and past employees of the companies were targeted two weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
"Chevron takes the threat of malicious cyber activity seriously," a Chevron spokesperson told Fox News. "We have implemented the United States government's recommendations into our cybersecurity safeguards to protect Chevron's computing environment."
Fox News said that Cheniere did not respond to a request for comment on the story.
President Joe Biden banned the import of Russian oil and natural gas on Tuesday in an effort to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into ending the war in Ukraine.
The ban by the U.S. and some NATO allies means that nations in Europe, like Germany that relies heavily on Russian oil and natural gas, could turn to the United States to buy liquified natural gas as a replacement, making the cyberattacks more worrisome.
In February, the Office of the National Director of Intelligence, responsible for overseeing the U.S. intelligence community, issued an annual threat assessment for 2022 that warned about a continued threat from Russia in the cyber arena.
"We assess that Russia will remain a top cyber threat as it refines and employs its espionage, influence, and attack capabilities," the report said. "We assess that Russia views cyber disruptions as a foreign policy lever to shape other countries' decisions, as well as a deterrence and military tool."
The report also said that Russia would use cyberattacks to target "critical infrastructure" including underwater cables and industrial control systems to damage the infrastructure of the United States and its allies.
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