US holds global meet to combat ransomware, minus ‘top culprit'

Russia, Biggest Source Of Problem, Was Not Invited To The 30-Nation Conference

- David E Sanger

Washington: When the White House convened 30 nations this week to formulate strategies for combating ransomware, one country was intentionally omitted: Russia, the single biggest source of the problem.

It is not that President Joe Biden is freezing the country out of the discussion. Ever since Biden’s summit with President Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June, White House officials have been testing Moscow’s willingness to crack down on the ransomware gangs that wreaked havoc in the United States last spring, shuttering a crucial gasoline and jet fuel pipeline and crippling a major producer of meat. In recent weeks, American officials said they had begun passing intelligence to the Russians about specific hackers who the US believes are behind the threats to companies, cities and infrastructure. Officials say the Russians have sounded cooperative but have not yet made arrests.

There is some evidence the pressure applied by Biden in Geneva has made modest progress: Spectacular attacks on critical infrastructure have abated, although there is a steady drumbeat of continuing ransomware demands. Still, when asked how often he thought the United States would be facing such attacks five years from now, General Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency and commander of US Cyber Command, said, “Every single day.”