Biden says ransomware attack caused minimal damage to U.S. companies

CYBER CRIME - WASHINGTON. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the ransomware attack centered on the Florida information technology firm Kaseya seems to have inflicted only "minimal damage" on American businesses.

"It appears to have caused minimal damage to U.S. businesses, but we're still gathering information," Biden told reporters following a briefing from advisers.

"I feel good about our ability to be able to respond."

Friday's ransomware attack scrambled the data of hundreds of small businesses worldwide, including many in the United States. REvil, a prolific, Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate, took credit for the breach.

The president's comments follow a statement from Kaseya that the attack never posed a threat to critical U.S. infrastructure, which Biden declared off-limits during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.

But the attack was another illustration of how cybercriminals believed to be operating from Russia are running amok in the United States. Biden has sought to push Putin to bring Russian cybercriminals to heel, so far to little visible effect.

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Attacks have escalated recently.

Last month REvil extorted an $11 million ransom out of meatpacker JBS after snarling its supply chain. In May an intrusion by another Russia-linked group at major U.S. fuel transporter Colonial Pipeline led to panic buying, price spikes, and gasoline shortages up and down the East Coast.

The Republican National Committee said on Tuesday it learned over the weekend that third-party provider Synnex Corp had been breached, but an investigation by Microsoft Corp determined that no RNC data had been accessed.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier on Tuesday that senior U.S. officials would meet their Russian counterparts next week to discuss the ransomware menace.

"If the Russian government cannot or will not take action against criminal actors residing in Russia, we will take action, or reserve the right to take action, on our own," she said.

The Russian Embassy in Washington and the U.S. National Security Council did not return messages seeking further details about the meeting.

On Wednesday, Biden will meet with officials from the Justice Department, State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community to discuss ransomware and U.S. efforts to counter it, Psaki said.

The hack that struck Kaseya's clients - many of whom are back office IT shops commonly referred to as managed service providers - did not have the same kind of impact in the United States as the ransoming of Colonial Pipeline.