President Joe Biden is warning American businesses of increased risk of cyberattacks as Russia looks to retaliate against sanctions.
Russia has born the brunt of some of the most intense sanctions in international history, a response to its invasion of Ukraine. The country has seen company after company pull out and abandon its Russian business, and is even struggling to find enough storage space to keeps its IT operations running.
In response to the international sanctions, experts believe Russia may increase cyberattacks on foreign targets, especially in the US. President Biden issued a statement warning American businesses of the possibility.
This is a critical moment to accelerate our work to improve domestic cybersecurity and bolster our national resilience. I have previously warned about the potential that Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States, including as a response to the unprecedented economic costs we’ve imposed on Russia alongside our allies and partners. It’s part of Russia’s playbook. Today, my Administration is reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.
After touting the efforts his administration has taken to harden US cyber defenses, President Biden called on the private sector to do the same.
If you have not already done so, I urge our private sector partners to harden your cyber defenses immediately by implementing the best practices we have developed together over the last year. 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. 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.