Biden Asks Putin to Crack Down on Russian-based Ransomware Gangs

President Biden asked Russian President Putin during a phone call today to disrupt ransomware groups operating within Russia’s borders behind the ongoing wave of attacks impacting the United States and other countries worldwide.

“President Biden underscored the need for Russia to take action to disrupt ransomware groups operating in Russia and emphasized that he is committed to continued engagement on the broader threat posed by ransomware,” a White House statement reads.

Biden also restated that the US will take “any necessary action” required to defend its people and critical infrastructure from these attacks.

“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 after signing an executive order at the White House.

“And secondly, we’ve set up a means of communication now on a regular basis to be able to communicate with one another when each of us thinks something is happening in another country that affects the home country.”

The phone call between the two heads of state comes after a large-scale REvil ransomware attack that hit dozens of Kaseya customers and up to 1,500 other downstream businesses.

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US targets Russian-based ransomware gangs

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki added during a Tuesday briefing on Biden administration’s policy agenda that the US will take action against ransomware groups operating within Russia if “the Russian government cannot or will not.”

Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger urged US mayors on Wednesday to immediately hold a meeting with heads of state agencies to evaluate their cybersecurity posture.

In early June, the White House chief cybersecurity adviser also warned US businesses to take ransomware seriously, following the Colonial Pipeline and JBS ransomware attacks.

JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, paid an $11 million ransom after the REvil gang initially demanded $22.5 million, while Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million ransom to the DarkSide ransomware group (the Department of Justice later seized a DarkSide cryptocurrency wallet recovering most of the ransom amount.

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G7 leaders have also asked Russia to urgently disrupt Russian-based ransomware gangs after the seemingly endless stream of attacks targeting organizations from critical sectors worldwide, including US government agencies.