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WILMINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday (December 22) that the perpetrators of a massive cyber attack on the United States government, unofficially attributed to Russia, must face consequences and attacked President Donald Trump for his response to the threat.
“We can’t let this go unanswered,” Biden told the American people before the holidays.
“That means making it clear, and publicly, who is responsible for the attack and taking meaningful steps to hold them accountable.”
Biden, who as president-in-waiting has received intelligence briefings on key national security issues, says much is still unknown about the extent of the attack’s damage.
Last week, the US cybersecurity agency said that a highly technical and well-coordinated operation penetrated US government and corporate systems months ago by hacking widely used security software.
LEE: Contradicts Trump, the chief justice of the United States denounces Russia in a hack
“I don’t see evidence that it’s under control,” Biden said, responding to Trump’s claim to the contrary.
“This president has not yet identified who is responsible,” he said.
He warned that he would retaliate once he became president on January 20.
“When I find out the extent of the damage and, indeed, who is formally responsible, you can rest assured that we will respond and we will probably respond in kind,” he said.
“There are many options that I will not discuss now.”
DEVASTATING NON-COMPLIANCE
According to US officials, the most devastating breach of US computer security in years affected at least the departments of State, Commerce, Treasury, Energy and Homeland Security, as well as the National Institutes of Health.
Analysts hope that other departments, including possibly key intelligence agencies, have also fallen victim to the attack and that it could take months or more to assess the damage.
Biden called the attack a “serious risk to our national security” and criticized Trump for downplaying cybersecurity during his nearly four years in office.
The attack, he said, was “carefully planned and carefully orchestrated. It was carried out using sophisticated cyber tools.”
“The attackers managed to catch the federal government off guard and off guard.”
He accused Trump of failing in his job to protect the country and “unreasonably downplaying the severity of this attack.”
“It remains your responsibility as president to defend American interests for the next four weeks,” he said.
“This assault happened under the surveillance of Donald Trump when he was not looking,” Biden said. “Rest assured, even if you don’t take it seriously, I will.”
READ: Biden’s chief of staff says response to hacking will go beyond ‘fair sanctions’
The administration has yet to officially attribute the attacks to any country or person, even though senior officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr, and senior members of Congress briefed on the matter, have noted. to Russia.
Trump, however, accused the media last week of always promoting the threat from Russia.
“The Cyber Hack is much bigger in the fake news media than in reality,” Trump tweeted.
“I have been fully informed and everything is well under control,” he wrote.
“Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority song when something happens,” he said, then suggested that China could be the perpetrator.
