Biden warns Putin on Russian ransomware attacks

President Biden spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and urged him to take action to disrupt criminal groups operating in Russia that are behind recent ransomware attacks in the United States.

Biden also warned that the U.S. would “take any necessary action to defend its people and its critical infrastructure in the face of this continuing challenge,” according to a White House readout.

The conversation came after a ransomware attack last week on software company Kaseya impacted up to 1,500 companies, many of which were vulnerable small businesses in the U.S. Cybersecurity experts have attributed the attack to the Russian-based “REvil” cyber criminal group. However the Biden administration has not yet formally attributed the attack.

“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 later told reporters when asked about the phone call.

Asked if there would be consequences for the ransomware attacks, Biden answered in the affirmative without elaborating.

A senior administration official told reporters Friday that while the administration will not “telegraph” what actions, if any, are taken, there would likely be some form of response.