Washington (AFP)

Joe Biden was under pressure on Wednesday after a new round of cyberattacks carried out from Russian territory, which test his firmness displayed during the summit with Vladimir Putin.

The American president brought together several senior intelligence, diplomacy, justice and homeland security officials to discuss his administration's strategy on this subject.

Asked at the exit about the message he wanted to send to his Russian counterpart, he just said: "I will pass it on to him".

The United States has been hit recently by numerous "ransomware" or "ransomware" attacks, which involve breaking into a company's networks to encrypt its data, then demanding a ransom, most often in bitcoins. , in exchange for the decryption key.

One of the most spectacular targeted the American computer company Kaseya on Friday, which could indirectly have affected up to 1,500 companies.

A Russian-speaking hacker group known as REvil claimed responsibility for the intrusion, which Kaseya still had not recovered from on Wednesday, and claimed $ 70 million in bitcoin.

The importance of the threat posed by hackers was further underscored on Tuesday when the Republican Party revealed that one of its suppliers had been the victim of an attack.

They "had no access to any data," party spokesman Richard Walters said.

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A group of hackers, called ATP 29 or Cozy Bear and linked to Russian intelligence services, is suspected of being behind the politically sensitive intrusion attempt.

- "Confrontation" -

Even if Moscow denies any responsibility, these attacks are seen as provocations directed at Joe Biden who, during his meeting with his Russian counterpart in Geneva on June 16, had promised to react if Russia crossed the line.

"I pointed out to him that we had an important cybernetic capacity", explained the American president during the press briefing following his exchanges with Vladimir Poutine.

If Russia violates certain "fundamental standards, we will respond. He knows it," he added.

The message remains relevant, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Tuesday: "If the Russian government cannot or does not want to take action against criminal actors residing in Russia, we will take action or we reserve the right to take action ourselves. "

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But the opposition is impatient not to see concrete actions.

"I am satisfied that he confronted Putin but, so far, he has not shown a determination strong enough to turn things around," Republican lawmaker Warren Davidson told Fox News on Wednesday, by reproaching Moscow for offering "a sanctuary" to hackers.

"The United States needs domestic (regulatory) and international (confrontational) action to bring about change," also tweeted James A. Lewis cybersecurity expert for the Center for International Studies in Washington.

- Follow the money -

The latest attacks are part of a series of ransomware assaults affecting both large American companies such as meat giant JBS and the oil pipeline manager Colonial Pipeline, as well as local communities and hospitals.

President Biden's cybersecurity adviser Anne Neuberger met with mayors of major cities on Tuesday to discuss the response.

According to an account of their exchanges released by the White House, she pointed out that the government's response included several fronts: attacking "the ransomware infrastructure", "making the countries which harbor hackers responsible", following the flows cryptocurrency and create a coherent strategy on whether or not to pay ransoms.

The United States has already used these levers.

In May, the Pentagon announced - without attributing itself this action - the neutralization of the servers of the Darkside group, at the origin of the attack on Colonial Pipeline.

The Department of Justice had recovered the majority of bitcoins paid by the company to relaunch its pipelines.

As for ransoms, the official line is not to pay any.

But at least $ 18 billion was paid to ransomware hackers in 2020, according to security firm Emsisoft.

© 2021 AFP