Ransomware attack against Florida-based company ‘a big focus’ of Biden call with Putin
A ransomware attack that targeted Kaseya, a Miami-based internet technology company, was “a big focus” of President Joe Biden’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, the White House said.
Biden has faced pressure in recent days to respond to continuing ransomware attacks and other hacks emanating from Russia, after vowing last month to retaliate against any further attacks against Americans or U.S. interests in his summit with Putin in Geneva.
A ransomware service called REvil conducted the attack against Kaseya over the Fourth of July weekend. While the service is based in Russia, it has affiliates around the world, and U.S. officials say they still have not pinpointed the precise location of the hackers responsible.
“I can tell you broadly that the ransomware attack that happened over the course of last weekend was a big focus, of course, of the call,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters about the roughly hourlong conversation.
Biden’s focus on the Kaseya attack in his call with Putin was an indication the United States suspects a Russian connection.
Biden has said he would respond to the attack in recent days, without providing details.
At an event at the White House on Friday, Biden said he told Putin he expects Russia to take action against Russian ransomware hackers — including those that are not affiliated with the Russian government.
“I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil even though it’s not, not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is,” Biden said.
“We’ve set up a means of communications now on a regular basis to be able to communicate to one another when each of us thinks that something’s happening in the other country that affects the home country,” he added.
This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Ransomware attack against Florida-based company ‘a big focus’ of Biden call with Putin."
