Biden: "Not Certain Russia Is Behind Ransomware Attacks"

President Joe Biden of the United States (Photo by AFP)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered a thorough investigation into the recent ransomware attack on a U.S. IT security company, stating that it is not yet clear whether Russia is behind the attack.

According to Bloomberg News on the 3rd (local time), President Biden, during his visit to Michigan, responded to reporters' questions by saying, "If necessary, we will mobilize all government resources."

He said, "It is not clear whether Russia is behind this," adding, "While receiving a briefing related to this on the plane en route to Michigan, my initial thought was that it was not the Russian government, but it is still uncertain."

The news agency emphasized that this attack occurred just weeks after President Biden requested Russian President Vladimir Putin to prevent cyberattacks against the United States during their first summit last month.

At that time, President Biden also warned President Putin that continued attacks would face serious consequences.

On the same day, President Biden stated, "I have ordered intelligence agencies to conduct a thorough analysis of what happened, and we will know more by tomorrow," adding that if the attack is linked to Russia, the U.S. will respond accordingly.

The U.S. IT security company Kaseya announced that it suffered a ransomware attack on its network platform, affecting more than 200 out of its approximately 30,000 customers.

Kaseya said it recognized the potential attack related to VSA around noon (Eastern Time) the previous day and shut down its servers as a preventive measure.

Kaseya reported that companies operating software through their own servers were mainly affected, rather than customers using its online services.

However, cybersecurity firm Huntress Labs indicated that the number of companies affected by this ransomware attack, which occurred just before the U.S. Independence Day holiday, could exceed 1,000.

Experts estimate that the hacking group 'REvil,' linked to Russia, is behind this attack.

John Hammond, a researcher at Huntress Labs, stated that REvil, a hacking group associated with Russia, is suspected to be behind the attack, using software company Kaseya as a conduit to distribute ransomware.

Earlier, at the end of May, one of the world's largest meatpacking companies, JBS SA, was also hit by a ransomware attack, which was similarly suspected to be the work of REvil.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.