President Joe Biden says U.S. officials are looking into whether to retaliate against Russia over a ransomware attack targeting Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s North American and Australian operations.
On Wednesday, Biden was asked, “Mr. President, will you retaliate against Russia for this latest ransomware attack?”
“We’re looking closely at that issue,” he responded.
A reporter asked, “Do you think Putin is testing you?”
“No,” Biden said.
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On Monday, meat-packer JBS SA said it was targeted by an “organised cybersecurity attack.”
“On Sunday, May 30, JBS USA determined that it was the target of an organised cybersecurity attack, affecting some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems,” the company said in a statement. “Resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers.”
The attack led to the shut down of plants in the U.S. However, the company said its systems are coming back online.
The White House said the company believes the attack was carried out by a criminal organization based in Russia.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, “The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals.”
The ransomware attack on JBS comes weeks after one of the country’s largest pipelines was temporarily shut down following a cyber attack. The owner of the pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, said it was also targeted by a ransomware attack.
The attack, which was reportedly carried out by the Russia-linked hacking organization DarkSide, led to panic buying and gas shortages.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden is expected to discuss the hack with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two leaders meet later this month.
“We do expect this to be one of the issues that the president will discuss with President Putin at the summit,” she said during a press briefing on Wednesday, adding that the administration is “not taking any options off the table in terms of how we may respond” to the attack.
