The US suggests that Russia is planning a cyber attack against the government. US President Joe Biden on Monday urged private sector partners “to harden your cyber defenses immediately,” pointing to “evolving intelligence” indicating “the potential that Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States.” While pledging his administration would “continue to use every tool to deter, disrupt, and if necessary, respond to cyberattacks against critical infrastructure,” the President in a statement acknowledged, “the Federal Government can’t defend against this threat alone.”
This suggests that Russia’s response to the US’s support of Ukraine and harsh economic sanction against the country is a cyber-attack. The US government is concerned that this is part of Putin’s escalation of the war. Recent changes in Russian tactics suggest that they are upping their game. Russia began shelling civilians as well as using new generation weaponry like hypersonic missiles.
“The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it’s coming,” the President warned. “He hasn’t used it yet, but it’s part of his playbook,” Biden said of Putin.
For a year, the US has blamed the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service for the SolarWinds attack. Also, a group of Russian hackers was believed to be behind the ransomware cyberattack on the trans-America Colonial Pipeline.
In Ukraine, there were small cyber attacks against banks and government agencies. There has been no major cyber attack with heavy repercussions like a blackout or shutting down powerlines.
The US president also warns big businesses to increase their defenses and ensure additional security.
As he put it: “You have the power, the capacity, and the responsibility to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the critical services and technologies on which Americans rely.”
Cybersecurity comes at a cost and it could hurt small businesses significantly.