NAfter the latest hacking attacks in the United States and other countries, US President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action against the perpetrators. The White House stated that in a one-hour phone call with Putin on Friday, Biden talked about “ransomware attacks being carried out by Russian criminals.” Russia should take action against the responsible groups. The United States is taking all necessary measures to protect its people and critical infrastructure.
Recently, last weekend, hackers used ransomware (ransomware) to attack hundreds of companies through a vulnerability of US IT service provider Kaseya. The REvil group, composed of Russian experts, requires a digital currency worth 70 million U.S. dollars (approximately 59 million euros) as the master key for all affected computers.
REvil was previously behind the attack on JBS, the world’s largest meat company. Before JBS, it hit the operator of one of the most important gasoline pipelines in the United States. Germany is already a destination.
Biden issued a clear warning
The United States criticizes two different types of hacking attacks from Russia: on the one hand, criminals, according to the United States, they can attack foreign targets without interference; on the other hand, from Russian secret services to US ministries, authorities, and the company. To this end, it has imposed sanctions on Russia. The Russian government denies such attacks. Putin has also repeatedly complained about cyber attacks against Russian authorities.
In a telephone conversation after the Kremlin, the Russian President pointed out that although Russia is willing to jointly take action against “criminal incidents in the information field,” there has been no inquiry from US agencies in the past month. In view of the seriousness of the challenge, both parties should work together without being “politicized.” For this purpose, channels between state structures should be used. The presidents of the two countries emphasized the need for “objective and constructive cooperation in the field of cyber security.”
Biden has repeatedly called on Putin to take measures to combat hackers-most recently at a bipartisan summit in Geneva in mid-June. The two sides agreed to start discussing cybersecurity. Biden also warned the head of the Kremlin that if the attack spreads, the consequences will be disastrous.
When asked whether the recent attack would have consequences, Biden replied: “Yes.” He has already “very clearly” stated to Putin that the United States wants him to take action. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said that ransomware attacks have increased for at least the past 18 months.
According to the White House, the call also involved a UN Security Council resolution, which agreed on Friday to reach a compromise on continuing to provide important humanitarian assistance to Syria. Biden and Putin praised their team’s joint work after the Geneva summit, which led to consensus. The Kremlin also issued a similar statement. Putin also expressed condolences after the collapse of a skyscraper in Florida.
