Trump is giving Russian cyber ops a free pass – and putting western democracy on the line

Each day of the second Trump administration confirms we have a US president intent on breaking decades-long norms.

In geopolitical terms, perhaps the most significant moves revolve around Russia. The pausing of military support for Ukraine, and banning other western governments from sharing US intelligence with Kyiv, will rapidly make an impact. In particular, the potential loss of access to ballistic missiles used to intercept Russian attacks will likely lead to yet more civilian deaths.

Less immediately visceral, but equally startling, was an announcement over the weekend from secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, who said the US will halt all offensive cyber operations – and planning for such operations – against Russia.

It is important to understand what this actually means. The term “offensive cyber operations” might bring to mind hacking Russian infrastructure or Kremlin computer networks. And it could include that. But it can also include attempts to hinder those launching their own attacks online: ransomware gangs, hackers, scammers or spreaders of disinformation.

Just pressing pause on this would leave the world more vulnerable to Russian cyber ops and give breathing space to criminal gangs. But also hitting stop on any planning for responses to Russian activities in cyberspace appears even more negligent.

If that move didn’t already send a clear message, it has also been accompanied by other similar indications from the White House. In a recent speech to the United Nations, a cybersecurity official at the US state department listed online threats from state actors in the shape of China and Iran – but pointedly not Russia.

The absurdity here is that Russia is known to be one of the most active threats in cyberspace. China carries out offensive operations, but much of its activity has revolved around gathering information, particularly tech secrets. Iran too is highly active, but is thought to view cyber attacks as primarily a retaliatory tool, and often more focused on its immediate neighbours. Neither has tended to be as focused as Russia is on sowing chaos within the US and its allies.

For Russia, cyber operations have been central to its efforts to undermine democracy in the US and Europe through a strategy of “information confrontation”. Lacking the combined economic or military power of western countries, it has seen cyberspace – with its arm’s-length hacking gangs and other plausibly deniable outfits – as a site where it can gain a comparative advantage.

So as far as online threats go, singling out Russia for a free pass flies in the face of glaring evidence. It’s like a zookeeper rounding up the giraffes and rhinos while giving the tigers free roam. And ceding that ground now will likely encourage Russia to double down, safe in the knowledge that its biggest watchdog has decided to turn a blind eye.