Late last week, President Biden said he brought up the epidemic of ransomware hitting American businesses in a phone call with his Russian counterpart, and hinted America may start hitting back.
Biden said he and Vladimir Putin not only discussed the matter, their two countries are apparently going to try to coordinate some action to tackle the waves of extortionware infections, which seem to be mainly orchestrated by miscreants in Russia and typically avoid compromising computers configured to use the Russian language.
IT management software made by Kaseya was lately exploited to install REvil ransomware on as many as 1,500 businesses. The crew behind that software nasty is said to avoid targeting Russian organizations.
When asked by reporters if it made sense for Uncle Sam to fire back at the systems used in these attacks, Biden responded with a simple “Yes.” And when asked what will happen if Putin doesn’t do anything about the cyberattacks, the President replied: “Well, we set up a committee — joint committee. They’re meeting on, I think, the 16th. And I believe we’re going to get some cooperation.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Uncle Sam has publicly gone on the offensive in this way. In 2019 US Cyber Command said it had disrupted internet connectivity for the notorious Internet Research Agency, a Russian misinformation group, to thwart any interference in America’s elections.