President-elect Joe Biden said his administration will hit back hard at Russia for a large-scale cyberattack that breached 200 U.S. federal agencies and companies, news sources reported Wednesday.
Biden's incoming chief of staff suggested the incoming commander in chief, as soon as he takes over the White House, would initiate a much tougher stance against Russia for its suspected cyber espionage campaign, saying the American response would go beyond just sanctions.
The cyberattack constitutes a serious risk to the country's national security, Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware. President Donald Trump was to blame for underestimating the seriousness of the attack and for not sharing security intelligence with his transition team.
U.S. Republican Senator Mitt Romney said in a television interview Dec. 20 that Trump has a "blind spot" when it comes to Russia.
The attack enabled hackers suspected to be from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency to exploit the servers of government offices, private companies and research groups for months.
The attack also penetrated targets globally with the list of victims still emerging, experts said. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack.
"We can't let this go unanswered," Biden said as he warned it could cost the U.S. federal government billions of dollars to safeguard American cyberspace.
"That means making clear, and publicly, who's accountable for the attacks and taking strong steps to hold them responsible," Financial Times quoted him as saying.
According to sources, the incoming president's response will need to be strong enough to enforce a steep financial or technological cost on the hackers but steer clear from escalating a conflict between the two superpowers.
In the attack, the hackers employed never-before-seen tactics to target corporate and federal systems, including those of Texas-based information technology management company SolarWinds, to steal sensitive data.
U.S. officials said the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency would need weeks, if not months, to determine the magnitude and extent of the damage.
