Another ransomware attack hit the US during the 4th of July holiday weekend. Ransomware hackers claiming Russian origin demanded $70 Million in Bitcoin (BTC) to provide universal decryption codes. Over 200 firms in the United States and hundreds more globally fell prey to the recent hack.

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The ransom demand was posted by a group called REvil, which is allegedly a ‘Russian’ group. The hackers are claiming to have access to over 1 million computers worldwide. The only way to retrieve hacked data is to pay up, or else there lies the risk of a leak or permanent deletion of information.

Biden is baffled but uncertain

The US government is battling the issue of ransomware breaches for the past few years. These hacks are presumed to be connected with Russia. President Joe Biden has appointed intelligence agencies into investigating the source of the attack.

Despite raging rumors about Russians being responsible for the attack, Biden clarifies that there is no certainty as to who the culprits are and what is their nationality.

Nevertheless, earlier in June, Biden was captured warning the Russian President Vladimir Putin against any breaches from Russia into the US infrastructure and databases will be cause for retaliation.

“We have the significant cyber capability, and [Putin] knows it…If they violate these basic norms, we will respond … in a cyber way.” Biden told reporters at the press conference post his first meeting with Putin in Geneva.

‘Russian’ hacking groups who are allegedly getting support from the Russian government, have been hacking into the US systems for a couple of years now, leaving a dent in America-Russia relations. From hacking into beef production of 20% of firms in the nation to shutting down the East Coast pipeline for days, Russians have been suspected to be toying with the American government for a while now. 

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Prashant Jha

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.