‘We will respond’ if Russia is at fault for massive holiday cyberattack

President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the US “will respond” if the Motherland was behind Friday’s mass cyberattack that hit at least 200 companies at the start of the Independence Day weekend.

“We’re not sure who it is,” Biden told reporters Saturday as he bought three fruit pies and a bag of cherry sodas at King Orchards, a family-owned cherry farm in Central Lake, Mich.

“The initial thinking was it was not the Russian government,” Biden said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an annual nationwide televised phone-in show in Moscow, Russia June 30, 2021.
President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met last month in Switzerland.
Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via Reuters
Faceless Computer Hacker
At least 200 companies were affected by the latest cyber attack.
Getty Images

“But if it is Russia, I told Putin we will respond,” he said – referring to the two leaders’ summit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, last month.

Biden specified that he has not spoken to the Russian president since being briefed on the ransomware attack, which cyber-security firm Huntress Labs has blamed on the Russia-linked REvil ransomware gang.

Biden was in Michigan as part of a tour to mark the end of pandemic restrictions — and to tout his administration’s free-spending economic plans.

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