U.S. President Joe Biden urged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in a phone call on Friday to take action against ransomware attacks originating from Russia, stating that the United States would take "necessary measures" to defend itself. Biden had previously shown firmness during a summit in Geneva with Putin in mid-June, promising to respond in the event of further attacks coming from Russian territory.
However, Biden faces pressure following a major attack a week ago on the U.S. information systems company "Kaseya," carried out by Russian-speaking hackers. In response to Republican opposition calling for a U.S. response, Biden discussed ways to retaliate with senior judicial and intelligence officials on Tuesday, indicating that he would "convey" a message to Putin.
On Friday, the Democratic president spoke directly with his Russian counterpart, and the White House released a statement indicating that "President Biden emphasized the importance of Russia taking measures against groups based in Russia that conduct ransomware attacks." According to the statement, Biden confirmed that "the United States will take all necessary actions to defend its citizens and critical infrastructure against this ongoing challenge."
Biden later mentioned that the discussion "went well; I am optimistic." When asked about potential "consequences," he affirmed that there would be repercussions "yes," without elaborating further. The United States has recently experienced numerous ransomware attacks wherein networks are breached, and data encrypted, followed by ransom demands, often in Bitcoin, for the provision of a decryption key.
Although Moscow denies any responsibility for the attacks, most extortion attempts have been attributed to hacking groups that use the Russian language or operate from Russian territory. A week ago, hackers launched a new wide-ranging attack targeting the information systems company "Kaseya," which announced it would not restart its servers before Sunday. Since then, Biden has faced pressure to take action.
Nevertheless, it appears that the White House aims to avoid direct confrontation with Moscow. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed on Friday that there is no "new information suggesting that the Russian government led those attacks." However, she stressed that Moscow "has a responsibility to act," echoing Biden's remarks.
In addition to "Kaseya," cyber hackers recently targeted the major meat company "JBS," the oil pipeline operator "Colonial Pipeline," as well as local authorities and U.S. hospitals. During their summit in Switzerland, Biden and Putin addressed the issue and agreed to continue dialogue with meetings between Russian and American cybersecurity experts.
Biden had previously warned his Russian counterpart that there would be a response if red lines were crossed, saying, "I informed him (Putin) that we have significant cyber capabilities." Putin responded by stating that "most cyberattacks worldwide come from the American cyberspace," accusing Washington of not cooperating against cybercriminals.
In the recent phone call, President Putin maintained this position. He noted that while Russia is willing to assist in combating cybercriminals, "we have not received any requests for mutual assistance from U.S. investigators in recent months," according to a statement from the Kremlin. The statement emphasized that "given the scale of the problem and its seriousness, interactions between Russia and the United States should be permanent, professional, and non-political."
