US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Russians are behind the widespread cyber attacks that targeted US government agencies, while President-elect Joe Biden vowed to respond to these attacks, and amid discontent in Congress with President Donald Trump's administration of the issue.

Pompeo told "The Mark Levin Show" Friday, "Now we can say very clearly that the Russians" are behind that attack.

This approval comes after US officials accused Moscow of being behind the attacks, which US sources said began since last March and are still continuing.

However, Moscow denied its involvement in the piracy operations and expressed its willingness to cooperate with Washington in this regard.

White House deputy spokesman Brian Morgenstern had confirmed that President Trump was working hard and was receiving the necessary briefing on the attack.

Morgenstern added that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien was conducting continuous meetings with the relevant security authorities to limit the consequences of the attack.

He said that teams were formed to deal with the attack, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency.

Pompeo: Now we can say very clearly that the Russians are behind that (French) attack.

He vowed to respond

Earlier, US President-elect Joe Biden pledged the Russians to respond to the widespread cyber attacks that targeted sensitive US institutions, including the Nuclear Security Administration.

In an interview with "CBS" channel on Friday, Biden said that his administration would hold Russians accountable for the cyber attacks that affected several ministries, including defense, internal and foreign security, the treasury, the administration of nuclear security, and institutions in the public and private sectors.

He added that his administration will spend more money on strengthening US cybersecurity.

Pelosi criticized the Trump administration's handling of the attacks (Getty Images)

Resentment and anxiety

These developments come amid discontent in Congress over the Trump administration's handling of the issue.

In this context, the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the cyber attacks that targeted a number of federal agencies as large and far-reaching.

Pelosi said in a statement that the attacks are disturbing evidence that the actors it described as malicious, including Russia, remain bent on undermining national security and American democracy.

Pelosi criticized the Trump administration's handling of the attacks, and considered it sad and worrying that (the Trump administration) turned a blind eye to the attacks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused him of making continuous efforts to attack electoral systems and undermine confidence in the democratic institutions of the United States.

Devastating process

For his part, the senior Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner, described the cyber breach as destructive.

He said in a statement that President Donald Trump and the White House are showing once again that they are not taking the issue seriously enough.

For his part, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the US Senate, Republican Senator Jim Risch, considered that the widespread and continuous cyber attack on US federal and government agencies and bodies constitutes a warning bell.

Reesh called on authorities at all levels to give priority to cybersecurity to protect sensitive American assets from hostile foreign actors, such as Russia.

Risch stressed the need for there to be consequences for those who commit such operations against Americans.

Earlier, the head of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said, "The severity and duration of this attack show that we still have great and urgent work to defend our important information and networks, and we must move faster than our opponents are doing to adapt to this."

Russia is fighting an unconventional war raging behind the screens (Getty Images)

Hacking and spying

The Politico website quoted US officials that the National Nuclear Security Administration was breached during the recent cyber attacks, and there was also evidence that the hackers had penetrated the networks of the administration responsible for the nuclear arsenal with the aim of espionage.

The website said that officials in the Ministry of Energy were planning today to notify the relevant committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the occurrence of the breach, and the ministry confirmed that the national security functions of the National Nuclear Security Administration were not affected by the cyber attack.

In turn, Bloomberg reported that the cyber attack included at least 3 US states, as well as government agencies.

On Thursday, the Agency for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security - which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security - confirmed that US government agencies and vital infrastructure entities have been at risk of being hacked by hackers since at least last March, stressing that the hackers “have shown patience and security in complex operations and craftsmanship. In these breakthroughs. "

The security agency has issued orders to government agencies to disconnect their devices from the "Solar Windows" program, which is believed to be compromised and used by many government agencies and private companies in the United States.

The Politico magazine website also quoted US officials as saying that the hackers had done more damage to the Federal Energy Regulatory Authority than other agencies.

For its part, the Oversight and Homeland Security Committees in the US House of Representatives announced the opening of an investigation into the cyber attack on government agencies.

The New York Times reported that investigators believe it will take months to uncover the extent of US networks affected by the hacking process.