US, Russia Should Work Toward Int'l Cyber Warfare Ban Within UNSC

Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and Democratic Party presidential nominee in 1988 election, said that he would like to see Russia and the United States in the Security Council get serious now about an international agreement to ban hacking.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States and Russia need to raise the issue of working out an international agreement banning cyber warfare at the UN Security Council after recent hacking hysteria, Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and Democratic Party presidential nominee in 1988 election, told Sputnik.

The Russian hacking scandal in the United States is continuing to rage as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in a week's time. On Friday, US Intelligence released a public version of a comprehensive intelligence report accusing Russia of having influenced the November election in Trump’s favor.

"I do not know what Trump is going to do about this, but I would certainly like to see Russia and the United States in the Security Council get serious now about an international agreement to ban it, with enforcement regime, just the way we have done with nuclear proliferation," Dukakis said.

The way Russia and the United States cooperated on settling the Iranian nuclear program issue should serve as a model for cooperation in other spheres, including cybersecurity, according to Dukakis, who used to be the Democratic nominee in presidential election in 1988 and lost to Republican candidate George H.W. Bush.

"We are now in the middle of a cyber-arms race, which is going to cost both of our countries billions of dollars. The whole thing is ridiculous. … At least Trump is going to work with Russia, and that's a good thing. But it shouldn't just be on ISIS [Islamic State]. It ought to be on these very serious issues," he said.

After being briefed on the report, Trump said the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack did not have an impact on the election outcome.

Trump's pick for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that the US intelligence assessment regarding the Russian alleged cyberattacks "clearly is troubling." However, he believes that Russia and the United States should engage in an open and frank dialogue to repair bilateral relations.

"Tillerson seems to me to be positive on relations with Russia. He certainly has a kind of an international view. … What is happening now is not in the best interests of the United States, and not in the best interests of Russia," Dukakis said.

The report by US intelligence agencies claims "with high confidence" that Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) used the Guccifer 2.0 persona, as well as the DCLeaks.com website, to hack computers belong to both major US political parties and release the obtained information in an effort to covertly influence the election and help Trump win.

Earlier on Friday, Guccifer 2.0, who has followed the steps of Romanian hacker Marcel Lehel Lazar and is behind multiple US Democratic National Committee (DNC) leaks, has vehemently refuted on his website allegations that he had ties to the Russian government.

Russia has repeatedly denied the US allegations calling them absurd and characterizing them as an attempt to divert public opinion from revelations of corruption as well as other pressing domestic issues.