Page 17 - RusRPTAug21

Biden “underscored the need for Russia to take action to disrupt ransomware groups operating in Russia and emphasised that he is committed to continued engagement on the broader threat posed by ransomware,” the White House said, as cited by the Financial Times.
While some security experts have suggested that the hackers are state-sponsored and sharing both the date they glean from companies as well as the money they are paid with the state, Russia has been suffering from an explosion of cybercrime in recent years and has many well funded, well organised independent cyber criminal groups that that stolen as much as $6bn from domestic business and citizens in just the last year, according to expert estimates.
These groups also target international business as they can operate from the relative safety of Russia, which does not have extradition treaties with either the US or the EU.
Biden acknowledged that many, if not all, the ransomware attacks were being conducted by independent criminal groups, but wants the Kremlin to crackdown on them anyway and will hold the Kremlin responsible if no action is taken.
“I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it is not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act,” Biden told reporters at a White House press briefing after the call, adding: “It went well. I am optimistic.” When asked if Russia would face consequences for not dealing with ransomware hackers, Biden replied: “Yes.”
Biden already brought up the issue of cyber attacks during his Geneva conference with Putin, listing 16 areas where cyber attacks should be “off limits” for both sides. In addition to the ransomware attacks, which are for-profit ventures, both countries routinely eavesdrop on the other side and has sophisticated technological programmes to hack each others systems. Observers were encouraged by Biden’s approach which was a pragmatic list of actionable suggestions that provided the basis of mutual cooperation and negotiation in dealing with a difficult issue.
The same think appears to have been used in the recent phone conversation where details appear to have been discussed. A senior administration official later told reporters: “We are not going to telegraph what those actions will be precisely. Some of them will be manifest and visible, some of them may not be. But we expect those to take place in the days and weeks ahead.”
The Kremlin’s account of the conversation noted that Putin told Biden Moscow had not received a request for co-operation from the US government since the Geneva meeting, despite Russia’s “readiness to jointly suppress cyber crime”.
“Taking into account the scale and seriousness of the challenges in this area, the interaction between Russia and the United States should be permanent, professional and non-politicised,” the Kremlin said in a statement. A White House spokesperson denied the Kremlin’s charge and said a detailed request
17 RUSSIA Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com