Experts Urge Sober Assessment of Russian Hacking

Worries over disinformation played a strong role in expert reaction to McFadden. "This kind of language also does Russia's job for it, given that Russian intelligence wants to create panic and weaken societal resilience through cyber operations," said Jamie MacColl, a cyber research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. "Resisting Russian cyberattacks requires psychological as well as cyber resilience, and this rests on clear and calm rhetoric and guidance from the government. Neither should government officials minimize the scale of the Russia threat, experts said. "The challenge, however, lies in striking the 'right' tone. U.K's desire to signal that 'it knows what is happening' needs to be more calibrated with taking the Russian threat in more concrete terms and without resorting to exaggerated or alarmist language," said Louise Marie Hurel, a research fellow at RUSI.