France has ‘trouble understanding’ US halt on cyber operations against Russia

PARIS — French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot voiced his confusion over reports that the United States’ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a halt of offensive cyber operations against Russia.

“I have a bit of trouble understanding [Hegseth’s decision],” Barrot told public radio France Inter Monday. The French minister said European Union countries “are constantly the targets” of Russian cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity publication The Record on Friday reported that Hegseth had ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from planning offensive cyber operations against Russia. The report was confirmed by other publications shortly after. Cyber Command is the U.S. Department of Defense’s section conducting cyberattacks and cyberdefensive operations.

Hegseth’s move raised eyebrows in Europe, where Russia is seen as a main threat in cyberspace together with China.

Both French diplomatic officials and President Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly accused Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare against France through cyberattacks. “Russia is attacking us on information, cyber,” Macron said last month, claiming that Moscow was seeking to “destabilize our democracies.”

A report published on Feb. 24 by Viginum, the French digital interference service, said France was “the subject of a particularly aggressive and persistent targeting by Russian information threat actors.”