US agencies have deployed malware into Russia's power grid systems, the New York Times claims

President Trump labelled the New York Times report "a virtual act of treason"

American Cyber Command has deployed malware into Russian power grid systems to enable the US to potentially conduct cyber attacks in the event of a major conflict with Russia.

That's according to a report by The New York Times, which claims that US Cyber Command is now using new powers to aggressively install cyber-tools against Russia, and that those digital incursions don't even need approval from the president Trump.

The report anonymously cited "current and former officials" to back up its claims. "It has gotten far, far more aggressive over the past year," one intelligence official said. He added: "We are doing things at a scale that we never contemplated a few years ago."

Whether or not US Cyber Command now has the power to effectively shut off Russia's power grids is impossible to know unless it is actually attempted by the agencies, the Times concluded.

The sources added that they believe President Trump has not been briefed about the deployment of malware inside Russian power systems.

While the US government has never disclosed publically any information on exactly what actions have been taken in the past, national security adviser John Bolton said last week that the country is now changing its strategy and taking an aggressive offensive stance in cyberspace against adversaries engaged in cyberoperations against the country.

Cyber Command boss General Paul M. Nakasone has also stressed the need for "defend forward" capabilities to counter the threat of cyber attacks against US systems.

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Security experts advocating an aggressive offensive strategy against Russia say that it was long overdue, following public warnings from the US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of investigation that Russian agencies were attempting to inject malware into US systems.

According to those agencies, the purpose of the malware is to get into a position to be able to damage US electrical infrastructure, water supplies and other vital systems in the event of a conflict between Russia and the US. Russian agencies were also accused of interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections and launching campaigns to promote disinformation on social media.

However, President Trump flatly rejected the report via Twitter, calling it "a virtual act of Treason".

"Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia. This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country....." President Trump tweeted.

For good measure, he also labelled the media "cowards" and the "enemy of the people".

The Times responded to Trump's tweets by saying that his own officials had made clear that they had no security concerns about the story.

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