Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2021

July 9, 2021

Ransomware Attacks on U.S. Companies

Q. Mr. President, does it make sense to attack the servers that are used in Russia to carry outââ

The President. [Inaudible]

Q. Does it make sense to attack the servers that are used to carry out these ransom attacks in Russia?

The President. To attack them?

Q. Wellââ

The President. Well, what happened was there was one company that gotâI mean, they weren't specifically attacking servers; they were attacking businesses.

Q. I mean the U.S. response. Up until now, the U.S. response has been to exercise sanctionsâimpose sanctions on Russia for this malign activity. Does it make sense for the U.S. to take it up a notch and attack the actual servers that are used?

The President. Yes.

Russia-U.S. Relations

Q. Sir, what are the consequences for Putin if he does not step up against cyber attacks?

The President. Well, we set up a committeeâjoint committee. They're meeting on, I think, the 16th. And I believe we're going to get some cooperation.

Thank you.

Q. Mr. President, what do you expect President Putinâ[inaudible]âwhat do you expect him to do? What are those actions?

The President. It's not appropriate for me to say what I expect him to do now. But we'll see. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, MD, prior to boarding Air Force One. In his remarks, he referred to President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: Joint Base Andrews, MD.

Locations: Joint Base Andrews, MD. Names: Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Subjects: Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Defense and national security

: Cybersecurity :: Cyber attacks; Russia : President; Russia : Security cooperation with U.S.

DCPD Number: DCPD202100577.

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