Biden-Putin Summit: Russian President alleges most number of cyberattacks originate in US

On Wednesday, June 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin after meeting with US President Joe Biden, in his press conference denied responsibility for the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack and claimed most hacking crimes originate in the U.S, not Russia. Earlier after the meeting, both, Putin and Biden described the summit as productive. 

Putin points at the US for cybercrime 

Speaking to reporters following the summit, Putin, in typical fashion, averted questions on allegations of wrongdoing by Russia and turned it around accusing the US.

Putin informed that his “American sources” have told him most cyberattacks are “carried out by the US followed by Canada, Latin America, and Great Britain. He further stated, “Russia is not on the list", calling to “get rid of insinuations and accusations.” 

After the two leaders announced plans to begin “consultations” on cybersecurity, the Russian president commented saying it was 'extraordinarily important'.  In his own press conference after Putin’s, Biden said he gave the Russian president a list of 16 critical types of infrastructure that the U.S. believes should be “off-limits” to cyberattacks. Biden claimed, "Putin knows I will take action in response to future Russian election interference and cyberattacks"

'Russia is also facing ransomware attack'

Putin told reporters that Russia regularly faces ransomware attacks and cited the example of a Russian healthcare service being hit by hackers, which he claimed was carried out by US hackers.

However, Dmitry Smilyanets, Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert,  says he thinks it's unlikely this incident would have been ransomware or news of any resulting disruption would have been public.

The reason there are so few ransomware attacks on Russia and the former Soviet states is often put down to the much-discussed 'One Rule' of Russian hacking, which means you can go after anyone as long as they are not on friendly soil.

The Colonial Pipeline attack

Cyber criminal gang DarkSide - which US authorities said operates from eastern Europe and possibly Russia - infiltrated the pipeline last month. It carries 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel, Colonial Pipeline says. The Colonial Pipeline attack disrupted supplies for several days causing fuel shortages and queues at pumps in states such as Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Biden said that he gave Putin a list of 16 specific critical entities that should be considered "off-limits" from future cyber-attacks. However, Putin told reporters that the Colonial Pipeline attack and others have "nothing to do with Russian authorities".

(Image Credit: AP/B_A/PIXABAY)