On the heels of the single biggest global ransomware attack yet, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday President Joe Biden will meet with key government leaders Wednesday to discuss efforts to counter the attacks.
Miami-based Kaseya said it believes hackers hit about 800 to 1,500 businesses in at least 17 countries with ransom demands of up to $5 million. The businesses use Kaseya’s virtual system administrator, or VSA, to fully manage IT infrastructure.
Criminals used a tool that is supposed to help protect against malware but instead helped spread it widely.
Most of the 800 supermarkets in the Swedish Coop chain shut down because the malware crippled their cash registers, and more than 100 New Zealand kindergartens were knocked offline.
Cybersecurity experts suspect Kaseya’s estimate is low, noting that victims are still being identified.
Wednesday’s meeting is set to include leaders from the Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and other members of the intelligence community.
“What [Biden] had asked the team to do several weeks ago was to review and assess what our options are and how we can better again put in place partnerships with the private sector, best practices, what levers we have from the federal government,” Press Secretary Psaki said.
The attack comes less than a month after President Joe Biden pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop providing safe haven to ransomware gangs, including the one some experts believe are responsible for the latest attack.
“I will just reiterate a message that these officials are sending, as the president made clear to President Putin when they met,” Psaki said. “If the Russian government cannot or will not take action against criminal actors residing in Russia, we will take action or reserve the right to take action on our own.”
Over the weekend, Biden ordered U.S. intelligence to take a “deep dive” into the attack, saying the United States would respond if it determines the Kremlin is involved.
