President Biden sounded an ominous warning to U.S. companies, urging them to be prepared for a cyberattack from Russia in response to American sanctions that have been imposed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
From The Blaze:
“The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it’s coming,” said Biden Monday at a business roundtable meeting.
“The federal government is doing its part to get ready,” he added and called on the private sector to respond accordingly. He also suggested that it would be their “patriotic duty” to invest as much as they could to improve their technological defenses.
Biden has in the past warned of the possibility of Russia launching into a form of cyber warfare, though this warning was reportedly in response to specific activities identified by U.S. intelligence.
In a statement released by the White House Monday, Biden said the Russians could now be more motivated to act because of the “unprecedented economic costs we’ve imposed” on the country since its invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s part of Russia’s playbook,” Biden said “Today, my administration is reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.”
White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger told reporters Monday that the administration has been reaching out to private sector companies that could be likely targets in an attempt to help provide them with guidance on how to prepare for a possible attack.
“There is no evidence of any specific cyberattack that we’re anticipating for,” she said. “There was some preparatory activity that we’re seeing, and that is what we shared in a classified context.”
“As the president has said, the United States is not seeking confrontation with Russia,” she added. “But he has also said that if Russia conducts disruptive cyberattacks against critical infrastructure, we will be prepared to respond.”
American intelligence officials already suspect that Russian operatives attempted to hack federal government information via an attack software company SolarWinds, while an attack on Colonial Pipeline’s and meatpacker JBS’s information system last year were also suspected of being orchestrated by Russian hackers.
