WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2021) Ongoing ransomware attacks was a big focus of the telephone call between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin with the US president urging his Russian counterpart to rein in criminal hackers and warning that otherwise the United States states may take action, the White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday.
During her daily briefing Psaki spoke at length about the hour-long conversation between the two leaders - their first direct engagement following last month's summit in Geneva.
"The ransomware attack that happened over the course of last weekend was a big focus of the call," Psaki told reporters.
The latest ransomware attacks included the breach against the IT management software company Kaseya, which affected a number of US companies. US media reported that these attacks were allegedly conducted by the Russia-linked REvil hacking group.
Psaki said the Biden administration does not have any new information indicating the Russian government directed the latest ransomware attack against US targets. The United States believes that Russia has a responsibility to crack down on hackers operating from its territory and reserves the right to act if these expectations are not met, she said.
"He reiterated that the United States will take any necessary action to defend its people and its critical infrastructure, and he also reiterated his expectation that President Putin take action, even if it is not directed by the Russian government and if it is because of criminal actors in his own country," Psaki said.
"While we are not going to preview operationally what... he may decide to do, he did make clear that he reserves that option to take action," she added.
Psaki refused to disclose Putin's response.
During the June 16 summit in Switzerland, Putin and Biden agreed to launch bilateral cybersecurity talks in light of several high-profile cyberattacks against US infrastructure, in which US officials suspected Russian involvement despite Moscow's protests to the contrary.
US officials said earlier that Russian and American experts plan to discuss ransomware attacks during their next meeting in the upcoming days.
