President Joe Biden urged U.S. businesses Monday to take added precautions amid “evolving” intelligence that Russia might target American corporations with cyberattacks.
“The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it’s coming. The federal government is doing its part to get ready,” Biden stated whereas talking to the Business Roundtable CEO quarterly assembly in Washington.
He referred to as on corporations to take a position “as much as you can” in beefing up technological capability to protect towards potential assaults.
As the battle in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion final month rages on, the White House launched a reality sheet Monday telling U.S. corporations to “Act Now to Protect Against Potential Cyberattacks.”
“This is a critical moment to accelerate our work to improve domestic cybersecurity and bolster our national resilience,” Biden stated in a press release. “I have previously warned about the potential that Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States, including as a response to the unprecedented economic costs we’ve imposed on Russia alongside our allies and partners.
“Today, my administration is reiterating these warnings based mostly on evolving intelligence that the Russian authorities is exploring choices for potential cyberattacks,” he continued.
In its release, the White House pushed companies to mandate the use of multifactor authentication, backup and encrypt data and educate their workforces about tactics hackers may deploy, among other steps.
“If you haven’t already completed so, I urge our personal sector companions to harden your cyber defenses instantly by implementing the perfect practices now we have developed collectively over the past 12 months,” Biden said in Monday’s statement.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, strengthened the president’s warning in a assertion urging “all organizations, giant and small, to behave now to guard themselves towards malicious cyber exercise.”
At Monday’s White House briefing, Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, told reporters that the Russian government “is exploring choices for potential cyberattacks on crucial infrastructure within the United States.”
“The president has stated the United States shouldn’t be looking for confrontation with Russia, however he has additionally stated that if Russia conducts disruptive cyberattacks towards crucial infrastructure, we will probably be ready to reply,” Neuberger stated.
Biden on Monday also joined a meeting with top administration officials and 16 chief executives from major U.S. companies, who were briefed about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “unprovoked and unjustified battle towards Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
NBC News reported last month that Biden was presented with a menu of options for the U.S. to carry out cyberattacks against the Russians to disrupt Russia’s ability to sustain its military operations in Ukraine.
Shannon Pettypiece contributed.