While the Biden administration has been warning the nation of cyberattacks by Russia for months, most recently in response to economic restrictions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the president’s statement suggests that “developing intelligence agencies” are the threat have increased .
The details of exactly what that information is remain unclear, but Assistant National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said during Monday’s White House briefing that Russia had been conducting “preparatory activities” for cyberattacks, which she said involved scanning websites and searching for software vulnerabilities.
Neuberger said the government is reiterating its warnings “based on developing threat intelligence that the Russian government is investigating options for potential cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in the United States,” but also stressed that “there is no certainty that a cyber incident will occur.” becomes critical infrastructure.”
Administration last week “held classified briefings with companies and sectors that we felt were most effective and provided very practical, focused advice,” Neuberger told CNN’s Phil Mattingly during Monday’s briefing.
Biden said in his statement that the government “will continue to use every tool to deter, disrupt, and respond to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure as necessary,” but acknowledged that “the federal government cannot address this threat alone.”
“Most of America’s critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, and critical infrastructure owners and operators must accelerate their efforts to lock their digital infrastructure doors in order to quickly share risk mitigation information and guidance to protect their systems and networks protect,” the statement said.
The administration recommends several steps to help private sector partners defend against cyberattacks, including using multi-factor authentication, consulting with cybersecurity professionals to ensure systems are protected from all known vulnerabilities, and modifying passwords across networks to prevent the use of stolen credentials, secure and encrypt data, and train employees on cybersecurity.
US officials have been warning the private sector for months about the possibility of Russian retaliatory attacks over sanctions against the Kremlin.
Among other things, the US Departments of Energy, Treasury and Homeland Security have alerted major electric utilities and banks to Russian hacking capabilities and urged companies to lower their thresholds for reporting suspicious activity. The FBI was wary of Russian-language ransomware groups targeting US companies.
Ukrainian government agencies have been hit by a slew of cyberattacks before and after the Russian invasion, but not to the extent some analysts feared.
Cyber attacks have nonetheless played a supporting role in the war. As the Russian military began attacking Ukraine on February 24, a cyberattack on US telco provider Viasat took offline satellite modems providing internet services to tens of thousands of customers in Europe, including some in Ukraine.
The US government is investigating Viasat’s hack as a possible state-sponsored cyberattack by Russia, a US official familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
Neuberger did not identify Monday who was responsible for the hack. She said US officials would continue to investigate the incident.
In early March, a bipartisan group of Biden administration senators also shared their concerns about the potential for widespread Russian cyberattacks in the US in retaliation for tough sanctions against Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas obtained by CNN Sunday night, 22 senators led by Nevada’s Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen and South Dakota’s Republican Senator Mike Rounds raised questions about America’s preparedness for Russian cyber and disinformation threats.
Additional correspondence obtained by CNN shows that DHS responded to senators Monday that CISA’s Office of Legislative Affairs will work with the group to prepare a briefing on the matter.
CNN’s Eva McKend contributed to this report.