US government intelligence and national security agencies met on Friday to discuss how Joe Biden’s government can respond to Russian cyberattacks in light of the Ukraine crisis. The information of CNN International are from three US officials familiar with the meeting.
The meeting – which convened officials from the White House, intelligence agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies via videoconference – underscores how the Biden administration sees cyberspace as an important front in tensions over Russia’s threat to re-invade Ukraine.
The meeting’s focus was on how US agencies can work with companies in key sectors of the economy to respond to potential hacking incidents, whether from criminal operations or state actors, the three officials said.
One issue raised was the possibility of an increase in ransomware attacks on US companies by Russian-speaking criminal gangs, two officials said. Another talking point was how the United States can provide cybersecurity assistance to Ukraine, whose government faced a series of cyberattacks in mid-January, two US officials said.
There is a “specific threat” to Ukrainian infrastructure at the moment, but not to US infrastructure, an official told CNN. The goal is to be ready if that changes, and for federal authorities to be able to respond with affected companies if major attacks occur.
The interagency meeting comes as US officials urged companies to be on high alert for hacker threats from Russia. The FBI also surveys companies for signs of compromise.
Ransomware attacks by Russian-speaking hackers have crippled America’s critical infrastructure companies over the past year, including an incident that forced the country’s main fuel carrier, Colonial Pipeline, to shut down for days.
Russia has historically been reluctant to crack down on cybercriminals operating on its territory – as long as the hackers leave Russian organizations alone.
But in recent weeks – as Russia has assembled more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border – Russian authorities have also taken the rare step of arresting high-profile cybercriminals.
White House officials say they believe Russia’s domestic intelligence agency in January arrested the person responsible for the cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline attack.
A government official previously denied any connection between the tensions over Ukraine and the FSB arrests.
But Dmitri Alperovitch, a cybersecurity expert who is chairman of the nonprofit Silverado Policy Accelerator, sees the Russian move as “ransomware diplomacy.” It was a sign, he previously told the CNNfrom the Kremlin that if the United States retaliates with harsh sanctions over Russian aggression in Ukraine, any semblance of US-Russian cooperation in cybercrime could disappear.
A spokesman for the National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“While there is currently no specific credible threat to the US homeland, we are aware of the potential for Russia to consider escalating its destabilizing actions in ways that could affect others outside Ukraine,” a government official told CNN.
Source: CNN Brasil
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