Cyber Attacks are Part of Putin’s Overall Arsenal says Russia Expert

Spectrum

What Russia may lack in modern traditional military assets, it more than compensates through its ability to wage tactical cyberattacks and ultimately the potential for cyberwarfare.
That’s the opinion of Dr. Steven Miner, professor and Director of the Contemporary History Institute at Ohio University.
Russia’s military hardware is deteriorating and the Russian economy is not strong under its leader Vladimir Putin. So, Russia is opting for committing cyber terrorism to advance its positions in the world.
These attacks, which can be done cheaply, have become pervasive by Russia throughout Europe, the countries bordering Russia and even in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Dr. Miner says. They are not new.
One of the Russian objectives is to “make trouble” and to discredit the authenticity of democratic electoral systems…leading people to think that elections, for example, are “rigged.”
He feels that the cyber interference in the American election was sparked more by a hatred of Sec. of State Hillary Clinton by Putin than any love for Donald Trump.
Dr. Miner gives a brief explanation of the rise to power of Putin and Putin’s “cynical” philosophy relating to governments and power. Putin’s world view was formed during his early days with Russian Intelligence, the KGB.
Dr. Miner also explains how the current hostile feelings between American and Russia are different than those that existed in the Cold War.
“We are not in Cold War – Part 2,” Dr. Miner says. The relationships between the countries are now far more complex than in earlier Cold War days.
Dr. Miner is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Russian/Soviet and East European history. He just completed writing a book that is awaiting publication by Simon and Schuster, titled – The Furies Unleashed: The Soviet People at War, 1941-1945.