Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has instructed the US Cyber Command to pause offensive cyber and information operations against Russia as President Donald Trump aims to end the war in Ukraine with terms that many perceive as favorable to Moscow, The Washington Post reported, citing both current and former US officials familiar with the decision.

The suspension is intended to last only as long as negotiations are ongoing, as per the report.

While pausing operations during high-level negotiations is not unusual, the move coincides with a significant shift in US foreign policy under Trump, as he appears more inclined to align with Putin, even at the expense of European allies, and to show a willingness to abandon previous policy positions regarding Ukraine. Experts have raised concerns, describing the pause as a concession to one of America's most active cyber adversaries.

James A. Lewis, a former diplomat and cyber-negotiator, said, as quoted by The Washington Post, “Russia continues to be among the top cyber threats to the United States.”

"Turning off cyber operations to avoid blowing up the talks may be a prudent tactical step. But if we take our foot off the gas pedal and they take advantage of it, we could put national security at risk,” he stressed.

The Pentagon declined to comment, but a defense official told WashPo, “There is no greater priority to Secretary Hegseth than the safety of the warfighter in all operations, to include the cyber domain.”

The big picture

The pause on offensive operations, reported first by The Record, is not considered an act of war, according to the officials. The actions being halted may include preventing malware from Russian networks or blocking Russian hackers from servers and disrupting anti-US propaganda.

Related News

Brown University joins MIT in rejecting Trump’s academic funding pact

US government shutdown could cost $15 bln weekly, Treasury warns

Retired Lt. Gen. Charlie “Tuna” Moore, a former deputy commander of US Cyber Command, noted, “It’s fairly common to pause anything that could potentially derail the talks.”

Both the planning for potential operations against Russian networks and the cyberespionage against Russia conducted by the National Security Agency have not been discontinued, according to one former senior military official.

“The reason you don’t stop espionage is you want to know if they’re lying to you,” said a former official.

“The reason you don’t stop planning is if the talks don’t work out, you want to have options you can use against them,” the official stressed.

The danger of pausing operations is that it could compromise the US defense strategy of “persistent” engagement with major cyber adversaries like Russia. “You need to see if there are vulnerabilities you can exploit, whether you can get through their firewalls,” a former senior defense official explained. "If the pause is for days or weeks, it’s not so serious; if it’s for months or permanent — that’s serious.”

At the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), some experts are shifting their focus to adversaries other than Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing a private sector consultant familiar with the matter.

Hegseth's order comes amid an administration shift toward taking a stronger stance against what the US perceives as other cyber adversaries like China and Iran, as evidenced by statements from Michael Waltz, who emphasized the need for the US to take a more offensive approach on cyber operations. “How will we reestablish deterrence so that some of these actors — particularly state actors like China and Iran — stop trying so hard?” he said.

For over a decade, Russia has been identified as a top "cyber threat" to the United States, targeting critical infrastructure and deploying ransomware, as per the report. In 2017, the US intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump, a conclusion that has been repeatedly disputed by the former president.

Now, under the new administration, Trump’s stance on Russia has shifted, and many of the initiatives set up to combat foreign interference, particularly from Russia, have been dismantled. Some critics, including Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, have condemned the shift, warning that backing away from confronting Russian cyber threats puts US national security at risk.

“To capitulate now, as we appear to bail on our allies in Ukraine, is an inexplicable dereliction of duty that puts American critical infrastructure at risk,” Thompson stated, urging Congressional hearings on the matter.

Read more: Over 19,000 cyber-attacks on Russian Presidential election recorded