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Joe Biden (Photo: REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque)
The team of the future president of the United States, Joseph Biden, will consider various punishment options for Russia due to a large-scale cyberattack by hackers against US government agencies.
Reuters reports it with reference to its sources.
Therefore, punishment can follow both in the form of financial sanctions and in the form of a mirror cyber attack on Russia’s infrastructure.
At the same time, the interlocutor of the agency said that the response must be forceful, but also that it avoid an escalation of the conflict between the two nuclear countries.
A Reuters source clarified that the main objective of any action is to deter similar cyber attacks in the future and to strengthen the fight against cyber espionage.
Responding to the events surrounding the hackers’ attack on US government agencies will be a top priority for Biden after his inauguration on January 20. According to the agency’s interlocutor, the new president’s team will have to study the cyberattack in more detail in order to make the appropriate decisions.
In an interview with CBS on Thursday, December 18, Biden, when asked how he would respond to a cyber attack likely carried out by Russia, said that «those responsible must be held accountable, “promising financial consequences for the individuals and legal entities involved.
Jennifer Granholm, a future Energy Department executive appointed by Biden, told ABC that the U.S. response would be “Powerful”. However, according to her, the team still does not know exactly who was involved in the attack.
At the same time, the deputy head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Democrat Mark Warner, said that in a large-scale cyberattack «everything points to Russia ”, supporting the statement of the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo.
What is known about the cyberattack on US government agencies?
On December 13, hackers stole information from the US Department of the Treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the US Department of Commerce. The attack is associated with the activities of the APT29 hacker group, or Cozy Bear, which is believed to be related to the Russian foreign intelligence service.
The next day, Russian hackers broke into the US Department of the Interior. They allegedly managed to access the department’s internal communications.
In a massive cyber attack on December 18, the US Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains arsenals of nuclear weapons, said they have evidence that hackers have gained access to their networks.
US intelligence agencies have confirmed a large-scale cyberattack on government structures.
Russia has denied any involvement in the attack.
Current US President Donald Trump said that the scale of the hacker attack on the country’s government institutions was greatly exaggerated and admitted that China could be behind it.
