Washington:
US President Joe Biden mentioned Wednesday he is “looking” at feasible retaliation immediately after the White House linked Russia to a cyberattack against worldwide meat processing giant JBS.
Asked by a reporter if he would take action against President Vladimir Putin, whom he will meet for a summit in Geneva later this month, Biden mentioned: “We’re looking closely at that issue.”
The ransomware attack on a US subsidiary of Brazilian-owned JBS has once again prompted accusations that Russia is at least harboring cybercriminals.
Similar suspicions had been raised immediately after ransomware hackers forced the short-term shutdown of the enormous Colonial fuel pipeline in the eastern United States last month.
Asked if Putin is testing him ahead of their summit, Biden mentioned “no.”
However, the White House says Biden will bring up US issues throughout the summit on June 16, as properly as at earlier summits with allies in the G7 group, the European Union and NATO.
“We expect this to be an issue of discussion throughout the president’s trip,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
“Harboring criminal entities that are intending to do harm, that are doing harm to the critical infrastructure in the United States, is not acceptable,” she mentioned.
“We’re not going to stand by that. We will raise that and we’re not going to take options off the table.”
The White House has not blamed the Kremlin straight, only suggesting that criminal groups are operating from inside Russia. However, Psaki mentioned “responsible states do not harbor” cybercriminals.
“President Biden certainly thinks that President Putin and the Russian government has a role to play in stopping and preventing these attacks. Hence, it will be a topic of discussion when they meet,” she mentioned.
For its element, Russia mentioned Wednesday it would be open to any US request for support in investigating the cyberattack.
JBS is a sprawling meat supplier with operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand and Britain.
The corporation mentioned the vast majority of its beef, pork, poultry and ready foods plants would be operational Wednesday.
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