Lawmakers Are Anxious Over U.S. Efforts Against Russian Hackers
Five months after President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to take a stand against ransomware attacks emanating from his country, lawmakers are beginning to chafe at what they view as a lack of results from the administration’s efforts to confront Russia.
Their concerns have increased in recent weeks as they heard mixed messages from key federal leaders on whether ransomware attacks tied back to Russian-based hackers have decreased since the two leaders met, undercutting the Biden administration’s extensive efforts to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity.
“If the United States knew that criminal actors were emanating from our soil and attacking another country, we would act, and I don’t see any evidence that Russia is actually helping us on this score,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism panel, said at a hearing Wednesday.
