More and more often, targets in the USA and other countries are being attacked by hackers - sometimes with enormous repercussions on the economy and public life.
US President Biden sees this as an immense risk.
Washington - US President Joe Biden has warned of war following a large-scale cyberattack.
"If we end in a war, a real war with a great power, then as a result of a cyberattack of great scope," he said on Tuesday (local time) during the first visit to the Office of the Intelligence Service Coordination (ODNI) since taking office.
"And the capabilities (for such a cyberattack) are growing exponentially," he added.
Most recently, the US blamed both China and Russia for major cyberattacks.
The US government and several allies recently accused China of “irresponsible malicious cyber activities”.
The allegations also came from the EU, Great Britain, NATO and other partners.
Among other things, the USA sees China behind the attack on the email software Exchange Server from the US group Microsoft in March.
With regard to Russia, on the other hand, the US criticizes two different types of hacker attacks: on the one hand, by criminals who, according to US reports, can attack targets abroad undisturbed; on the other hand from Russian secret services to ministries, authorities and companies in the USA. You have already imposed sanctions on Russia for this reason. The Russian government denies such attacks.
It was not until the beginning of July that hackers attacked hundreds of companies with blackmail software through a vulnerability at the American IT service provider Kaseya. The REvil group, located by experts in Russia, demanded 70 million US dollars (around 59 million euros) in the digital currency Bitcoin for a master key to all affected computers. A few weeks ago, the same group was behind the attack on the world's largest meat company JBS. As a result, the company had to close plants for several days, including in the USA. JBS paid the attackers the equivalent of eleven million dollars in cryptocurrencies.
A few weeks before JBS, it hit the operator of one of the most important gasoline pipelines in the United States.
The stop of the pumps partly triggered panic buying on the US east coast.
The operating company Colonial paid the hackers $ 4.4 million - a good half of which was, however, confiscated online by the FBI a little later.
"We've seen cyber threats, including ransomware attacks, increasingly capable of causing damage and disruption in the real world," said Biden.
And literally further: “I cannot guarantee that, and you are as well informed as I am, but I think that it is more likely (...) if we end in a war, a real war with a great power, then than Consequences of a cyber attack of great importance. "
Amid high tensions over the recent hacker attacks, Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed at a summit meeting in Geneva in June that their governments would start talks on cybersecurity. It should be about addressing specific cases and defining goals that should be taboo for attacks. Biden had given Moscow a list of 16 areas of critical US infrastructure that should not be attacked by hackers. According to the US government, these include the food and energy sectors, transport and communication networks, banks and healthcare facilities.
The US government presented plans on Wednesday to improve the protection of such critical infrastructures. Among other things, the US authority for cyber and infrastructure security (CISA) is to develop targets together with other bodies that private operators should adhere to in order to protect their systems. A senior government official said the state cannot act alone, industry must do its part. Almost 90 percent of the critical infrastructure in the US is in the hands of the private sector. Initially, voluntary steps are planned to improve protection. The government is also considering issuing mandatory requirements to strengthen cybersecurity. There are currently no systematic regulations, only patches. This is "insufficient" in view of the growing threat.
In his address on Tuesday in the office of the intelligence coordination, which oversees 17 US intelligence services, Biden also struggled to repair damage from the past.
His Republican predecessor Donald Trump had sharply criticized the intelligence services and, for example, questioned the findings of the American secret services about Russia's interference in the US elections in 2016.
Trump then duped his own people.
On the other hand, Biden expressed his confidence in the assembled intelligence officials and promised never to "politicize" their work.
Looking at Moscow and Putin, Biden said: "He knows that you are better than his own team - and that annoys him extremely." Dpa
