Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The Trump administration is blaming foreign governments for cyber attacks at more than 8 times the rate of its predecessors.
Why it matters: Attributions are accusations that a nation committed a destructive crime on foreign soil. They embarrass governments, cause businesses to be skeptical of international partners, and hang an albatross on international relations. Most important, they demand some form of response from leaders.
By the numbers: Over 8 years, the Obama administration attributed attacks to foreign governments only 4 times. With an attribution of an attack on internet infrastructure to Russia on Monday, Trump's tally is now 6.
The big picture: Trump's rapid attribution pace doesn't necessarily correlate to changes in the actual pace of attacks. It might be that Obama held back from naming names in hopes of improving relations with aggressors. Or it might be that Obama (and Trump, too) set precedents that Trump is now pressured to follow.
Geopolitical change: Michael Daniel, Obama's cybersecurity coordinator, said there is nothing to suggest an uptick in the number of attributable attacks since his era. He told Axios that some of the increase in attributions has a geopolitical basis.
"If you no longer have to worry about causing a greater rift in a relationship with Russia, it's easier to pull the trigger."— Michael Daniel, Obama administration cybersecurity coordinator
The growing body of precedent is another possible factor. When Trump's Justice Department indicted a private Iranian military contractor for theft of intellectual property and academic research, it harkened back to a 2013 indictment of Chinese military officers for IP theft.
"It's the power of setting precedents," said New America Foundation senior fellow Peter Singer via email. When new incidents unfold that match previous ones, there's an existing template for what you're supposed to do — and questions arise if you don't act.
- The Trump team's attribution that Russia was behind the NotPetya malware attack followed its announcement of North Korea's role in the similar WannaCry attack.
- The growing body of Russian attacks has cleared the way to attribute similar attacks, from Obama's post-election attribution of the Grizzly Steppe campaign to Trump's attributions of energy and internet infrastructure attacks.