Crickets in Russia

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said Tuesday there has been “no indication” that the Russian government has taken steps to stop the activities of cyber criminals engaging in ransomware attacks against U.S. organizations, despite outreach efforts by the Biden administration.

“Based on what we’ve seen, I would say there is no indication that the Russian government has taken action to crack down on ransomware actors that are operating in the permissive environment that they have created there,” Abbate said during a panel at the Intelligence and National Security Summit.

“We’ve asked for help and cooperation with those who we know are in Russia who we have indictments against, and we’ve seen no action, so I would say that nothing’s changed in that regard,” he said.

Context: Abbate’s comments came months after President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an in-person summit in Geneva to discuss issues including a spate of ransomware attacks against critical U.S. organizations linked to Russian-based cyber criminal groups.