Biden to US firms: Prepare ‘immediately’ for possible cyberattacks

AP Photo/Alex BrandonPresident Joe Biden speaks in the White House on February 18, 2022, in Washington, DC, the United States.

President Joe Biden on Monday warned businesses in the United States to “immediately” prepare their defenses against potential Russian cyberattacks, citing “evolving intelligence” on Moscow.

“If you have not already done so, I urge our private sector partners to harden your cyber defenses immediately,” he said in a statement.

Biden said Washington obtained “evolving intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.”

He cautioned that Moscow could target US firms in response to the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, and urged the private sector to implement cyber defense best practices to prepare.

“You have the power, the capacity, and the responsibility to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the critical services and technologies on which Americans rely,” the commander-in-chief urged.

“We need everyone to do their part to meet one of the defining threats of our time – your vigilance and urgency today can prevent or mitigate attacks tomorrow.”

Though Russia has mostly refrained from mass cyber attacks since the beginning of its invasion into Ukraine, the country is said to have a history of launching digital strikes against its opponents.

 

Moscow is suspected of launching a large-scale cyber attack in 2020 which caused a data breach that impacted parts of the US federal government.

The Google Threat Analysis Group later described the attacker behind the 2020 incident as a “likely Russian government-backed actor” in a July 2021 analysis.