President Biden warned on Monday that Russia is exploring the possibility of carrying out potential cyber attacks on the United States in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement made days before he was due to travel to Brussels for a NATO summit, Biden encouraged private companies in the United States to strengthen their cybersecurity against a potential breach by Russia.
“It’s part of Russia’s playbook,” Biden said in the statement. “Today, my government is reiterating those warnings based on increasingly dire information that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyber-attacks.”
According to Anne Neuberger, Mr. Biden’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, the administration has no evidence of a specific, credible potential cyber attack on the United States, but rather “preparatory activities” targeting critical infrastructure.
It is not the first time the United States has warned that Russia could hack into American companies while the war in Ukraine rages on. Ms Neuberger said Monday’s warning was an attempt by the Biden administration to raise awareness of Russia’s ability to launch a digital attack on US infrastructure.
Ms. Neuberger said the government recently observed “preparatory activity” for possible hacking of US infrastructure, sharing that information with companies in a classified briefing last week. Such activities may include scanning websites for vulnerabilities. Ms. Neuberger made it clear that there was still an active threat from Russian hacking against critical infrastructure, including oil and energy companies, and hospital systems.
“There is so much more we need to do to be confident that we have locked our digital doors, especially for the critical services Americans rely on,” said Ms. Neuberger, pointing out that most U.S. critical infrastructure is managed by the private sector. “Those owners and operators have the ability and responsibility to strengthen the systems and networks we all rely on.”
The White House last week briefed more than 100 companies in the United States about the best ways to defend against a cyberattack. The government on Monday instructed companies to “immediately strengthen your cyber defenses”, recommending measures such as enabling multi-factor authentication, ensuring offline backups of data and educating employees about hacking methods.
“You have the power, capacity and responsibility to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the critical services and technologies Americans rely on,” Biden said in the statement.
Ms. Neuberger noted that Russia is still carrying out cyber activities against Ukraine. Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in mid-February that a cyberattack that month on the websites of Ukraine’s defense ministry and military, as well as the interfaces of the country’s two largest banks, “carried traces of foreign intelligence services.” .
