Ukraine Crisis: Russian Cyberattacks on America Could Be Imminent – On Monday, President Joe Biden urged American companies to do everything they could to protect themselves against cyberattacks that the United States government believes are imminent.
The president said that there is “evolving intelligence” suggesting that the Russians are preparing a wave of major cyberattacks against American businesses and government agencies in response to what Vladimir Putin has called an “economic war” against his country.
Addressing CEOs at a quarterly meeting, the president said that American businesses have a “patriotic obligation” to strengthen their cyber security systems against possible cyberattacks, and promised that federal assistance is available to companies that need it.
“We’re prepared to help you, as I said, with any tools and expertise we possess, if you’re ready to do that. But it’s your decision as to the steps you’ll take and your responsibility to take them, not ours,” Biden said.
Anne Neuberger, President Joe Biden’s deputy national security adviser for cyber, also expressed some frustration at some federal agencies for not fixing known software security issues despite multiple warnings.
“Notwithstanding these repeated warnings, we continue to see adversaries compromising systems that use known vulnerabilities for which there are patches,” she said. “That makes it far easier for attackers than it needs to be.”
Ukraine War Update: Poland Already Hit By Wave of Cyberattacks
The United States is not likely to be the only target for Russian hackers – and reports have already suggested that the Polish government could be under attack.
In February, the Polish Secretary of State, Government Plenipotentiary for Cyber Security Janusz Cieszyński said that attempts were made to hack Polish government servers.
When asked whether cyberattacks against Polish government computer networks were becoming more frequent, Cieszyński said that there had been “more such attacks than usual.”
“At the moment, it is too early to assign them to the authors – he noted. “I can confirm that m.in attempts were made to attack the clearing house website, attempts were made to attack Polish government servers when it comes to e-mail,” he said.
A month earlier, Poland pointed the finger at Russian hackers when the Ukrainian government was hit with a largescale cyberattack on multiple government department websites. The cuber attack affected 70 national and regional government agencies.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski also said in June last year that far-reaching cyberattacks on its government networks were conducted from Russia.
“The analysis of our services and the secret services of our allies allows us to clearly state that the cyber attack was carried out from the territory of the Russian Federation. Its scale and range are wide,” Kaczynski said.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
