With cyber attacks on the United States increasing, US President Joe Biden warns of a growing threat of real war.
"I think it is more than likely that we will end up in a war - a real war with a great power - as a result of a major cyberattack, and the likelihood is growing exponentially," said Biden on his first visit to the office Head of the National Intelligence Service (ODNI) on Tuesday.
The government in Washington sees a growing threat from Russia and China.
Biden said Chinese state and party leader Xi Jinping is "dead serious" when it comes to becoming the most powerful military power in the world and the largest economy by 2040.
Multiple fatal attacks
Cyber security is high on the Biden administration's agenda after a series of high-profile attacks on companies including network management firm SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline, meat processing company JBS and software company Kaseya have done far more damage to the US than just the hacked companies .
Some of the attacks affected fuel and food supplies in parts of the United States.
Biden stressed that he would not exert any political pressure on the 17 American secret services that the ODNI oversees.
This represents a clear departure from the policies of his predecessor Donald Trump, who repeatedly clashed with the secret services - for example with regard to Russia's role in Trump's election victory in 2016 or the revelation that Trump was putting pressure on Ukraine to initiate investigations against Biden .
Trump had changed the director of the national intelligence services four times in his four-year term.