Cyberattack in Venezuela Demonstrated Precision of U.S. Capabilities

Summary

The cyberattack that plunged Venezuela’s capital into darkness this month demonstrated the Pentagon’s ability not just to turn off the lights, but also to allow them to be turned back on, according to U.S. officials briefed on the operation.The Jan. 3 operation was one of the most public displays of offensive U.S. cybercapabilities in recent years. It showed that at least with a country like Venezuela, whose military does not have sophisticated defenses against cyberattacks, the United States could use cyberweapons with powerful and precise effects.The U.S. military also used cyberweapons to interfere with air defense radar, according to people briefed on the matter, who discussed sensitive details of the operation on the condition of anonymity. (Venezuela’s most powerful radar was not functional, however.)Turning off the power in Caracas and interfering with radar allowed U.S. military helicopters to move into the country undetected on their mission to capture Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president who has now been brought to the United States to face drug charges.On Thursday, Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is weighing his nomination.General Rudd, a longtime special operation forces commander, is currently the deputy head of the Indo-Pacific Command. If confirmed, he would lead an agency and command that have had a number of senior officials forced out by Laura Loomer, the far-right conspiracy theorist and Trump ally.Mr. Trump fired Gen. Tim Haugh, the former head of the Cyber Command and the N.S.A., in April after Ms. Loomer noted that he had been appointed by the previous administration.There was little in the way of new information about Cyber Command’s Venezuela operation during the hearing. Lawmakers received classified briefings on the cyberoperations this week, but the operation remains shrouded in secrecy.General ...