Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats

The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments. The shift in policy could make the US vulnerable to hacking attacks by Russia, experts warned, and appeared to reflect the warming of relations between Donald Trump and Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. Two recent incidents indicate the US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cyber security threat. Liesyl Franz, deputy assistant secretary for international cybersecurity at the state department, said in a speech last week before…