The Biden administration on Monday reiterated a call for U.S. businesses to increase their cybersecurity capabilities, citing intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential attacks.
The warning, which came after U.S. intelligence concluded that Russian government hackers probably have penetrated Ukrainian military, energy and other critical computer networks, adds to concerns that private U.S.-based companies need to do more to secure their networks.
“Today, we are reiterating those warnings, and we’re doing so based on evolving threat intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in the United States,” Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said at a White House briefing Monday. “To be clear, there is no certainty there will be a cyber incident on critical infrastructure.”
The administration last week held a classified briefing with companies and sectors it said could be affected. Neuberger declined to specify the companies and sectors involved.
She said there was no eence of a specific attack but that U.S. intelligence had detected “preparatory activity” such as scanning websites and looking for potential vulnerabilities.
The executive chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a think tank on tech and trade security, said he anticipated Russian retaliation “for sanctions, including with cyberattacks.”
“They are probably judging that now is as good a time as any, with the war in Ukraine grinding into a stalemate,” Dmitri Alperovitch said.
Neuberger said any such actions taken by Russia would be met with a response.
“We’re not looking for a conflict with Russia,” she said. “If Russia initiates a cyberattack against the United States, we will respond.”
Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
