UNDER PRESSURE

 Officials are calling for harsher measures against Russia following Microsoft’s assessment that hackers behind the devastating SolarWinds hack were continuing to launch cyberattacks against U.S. government agencies and other organizations.

President Biden just last month levied sweeping sanctions on Russia in retaliation for both the SolarWinds hack and election interference. But in the wake of the new hacking efforts, some officials are urging the Biden administration to get tougher.

“If Moscow is responsible, this brazen act of utilizing emails associated with the U.S. government demonstrates that Russia remains undeterred despite sanctions following the SolarWinds attack,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement Friday. “Those sanctions gave the administration flexibility to tighten the economic screws further if necessary — it now appears necessary.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) had similar thoughts.

“We have to step up our cyber defenses, and we must make clear to Russia — and any other adversaries — that they will face consequences for this and any other malicious cyber activity,” Warner said in a separate statement Friday.