President Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the United States will take “any necessary action” to defend U.S. infrastructure, the White House said, after Russia-based hackers carried out the largest known ransomware attack to date.
Biden has been under increasing pressure to counter such costly, brazen assaults — pressure that spiked last weekend after the latest attack, which afflicted up to 1,500 companies, schools and hospitals around the world. It was claimed by a criminal group called REvil operating largely out of Russia.
In a phone call, Biden warned Putin that Russia must take action to disrupt ransomware groups operating there, or the United States would impose consequences, the president said.
“I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is,” Biden said. More.
