President Joe Biden speaks during a tour of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, May 18, 2021.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
President Joe Biden advised U.S. corporations on Monday to beef up their cybersecurity practices amid intelligence reports indicating that Russia is considering attacks.
The directive comes almost a month after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in a war that has killed more than 900 people, including 39 children.
“I previously warned of the possibility that Russia could engage in malicious cyber activity against the United States, including in response to the unprecedented economic costs we have imposed on Russia along with our allies and partners,” the president said in a statement. “This is part of Russia’s strategy. Today, my administration is echoing these warnings, based on emerging intelligence, that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.”
Biden referred people to White House leadership, which included using multi-factor authentication to prevent attackers from easily gaining access to systems. The White House has asked companies to back up and encrypt data, update passwords and update devices with the latest security patches.
“We need everyone to do their part to combat one of the defining threats of our time—your vigilance and urgency today can prevent or mitigate attacks tomorrow,” Biden said.
We don’t know adversaries will launch an attack on critical infrastructure, Ann Neuberger, US deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity and emerging technologies, told reporters at a press conference. However, last week the federal government held secret briefings for hundreds of companies.
“We are seeing some preparatory activity,” said Neuberger, who declined to name industries that could be affected.
U.S. software company HubSpot said it was attacked on Friday and suspects the attack was directed at cryptocurrency clients. HubSpot was unable to identify the attacker.
Late last month, Microsoft said it was sharing information about cyber threats with the US government. The company saw attacks on civilian and military targets in Ukraine, but did not link them to Russia or anyone else.
“We have made it clear to the Russians that they will have to pay a high price if they use their capabilities to target critical infrastructure in strategic sectors,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. at a press briefing.
— Amanda Macias of CNBC and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
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