In a phone call on Friday, United States (US) President Joe Biden urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “take action” against cyber and ransomware attacks by criminal groups based in Russia that are targeting thousands of companies around the world.
“President Biden underscored the need for Russia to take action to disrupt ransomware groups operating in Russia, and emphasised that he is committed to continued engagement on the broader threat posed by ransomware,” the White House statement read. Biden warned Putin that the US “will take any necessary action to defend its people and its critical infrastructure in the face of this continuing challenge [cyber-attacks].” Moreover, he told Putin that “Washington expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil [Russia], even though the state does not sponsor it, we expect him [Putin] to act.”
In a press briefing on the same day, Biden told reporters that a joint committee set up by Russia and the US on the issue will meet on July 16 and that he was expecting “cooperation” from Russia. When asked about the response to such attacks, Biden mentioned that the US was willing to attack the servers, apart from imposing sanctions on Russia.
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In a background press call provided by the White House on Biden’s call with Putin, a senior White House official told reporters that the US has “relayed multiple specific requests for action on cyber criminals to Russia through official channels and been clear about what Russia’s responsibility is with regard to taking action […] including at the level of the two presidents.”
On the other hand, the Kremlin stated that despite “Russia’s willingness to curb criminal manifestations” and “concerted effort” to prevent cyber-attacks, “no inquiries on these issues have been received from the US agencies” since the joint commission was set up after the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva last month. The Kremlin statement added that “Russia and the US must maintain permanent, professional and non-politicised cooperation” through “specialised information exchange channels between the authorised government agencies, through bilateral judicial mechanisms, and while observing the provisions of international law.”
The US has blamed Russia-based hackers for cyber and ransomware attacks on its companies and critical infrastructure. Last year, the US firm SolarWinds came under a massive ransomware attack that targeted its staff and clients, and remained undetected for months. In addition, there have been reports blaming Russian hackers for targeting the US cybersecurity firms and even government departments like Homeland Security and the Treasury. In May, hackers targeted the Colonial Pipeline in Georgia, which led to the shut down of petroleum supplies. This month, there were reports of attacks on a Republican National Committee contractor and a technology firm, which affected up to 1,500 businesses worldwide.
Additionally, the presidents discussed extending aid operations from Turkey into northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. They expressed satisfaction with the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) unanimous decision to extend the mandate of the crossing, and discussed “coordination of Russian and US efforts in this area.”