Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Biden Says Ransomware Attack Caused "Minimal Damage" To US Companies

Biden Says Ransomware Attack Caused "Minimal Damage" To US Companies

"It appears to have caused minimal damage to U.S. businesses, but we're still gathering information," US President Joe Biden told reporters following a briefing from advisers.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the ransomware attack centered on the Florida information technology firm Kaseya seems to have inflicted only "minimal damage" on American businesses.

"It appears to have caused minimal damage to U.S. businesses, but we're still gathering information," Biden told reporters following a briefing from advisers.

"I feel good about our ability to be able to respond."

Friday's ransomware attack scrambled the data of hundreds of small businesses worldwide, including many in the United States. REvil, a prolific, Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate, took credit for the breach.

The president's comments follow a statement from Kaseya that the attack never posed a threat to critical U.S. infrastructure, which Biden declared off-limits during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.

But the attack was another illustration of how cybercriminals believed to be operating from Russia are running amok in the United States. Biden has sought to push Putin to bring Russian cybercriminals to heel, so far to little visible effect.

Attacks have escalated recently. Last month REvil extorted meatpacker JBS into paying an $11 million ransom after snarling its supply chain. In May an intrusion by another Russia-linked group at major U.S. fuel transporter Colonial Pipeline led to panic buying, price spikes, and gasoline shortages up and down the East Coast.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier on Tuesday that senior U.S. officials would meet their Russian counterparts next week to discuss the ransomware menace.

"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," she said.

The Russian Embassy in Washington and the U.S. National Security Council did not immediately return messages seeking further details about the meeting.

On Wednesday, Biden will meet with officials from the Justice Department, State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community to discuss ransomware and U.S. efforts to counter it, Psaki said.

The hack that struck Kaseya's clients - many of whom are back office IT shops commonly referred to as managed service providers - did not have the same kind of impact in the United States as the ransoming of Colonial Pipeline.

Disruption elsewhere was more severe.

In Sweden, many of the 800 grocery stores run by the Coop chain are still in the process of recovering from the attack, which knocked out most of its supermarkets, though a spokesman told Reuters "we have more open stores than closed ones now."

In New Zealand, 11 schools and several kindergartens were affected.

Germany's cybersecurity watchdog, BSI, said on Tuesday that it was aware of three IT service providers in Germany that have been affected, with a spokesperson estimating that several hundred companies were touched overall.

"In Germany there are no cases as prominent as the one in Sweden," the spokesperson added.

The hackers who claimed responsibility for the breach have demanded $70 million to restore all the affected businesses' data, although they have indicated a willingness to temper their demands in private conversations with a cybersecurity expert and with Reuters.

Kaseya's CEO told Reuters on Tuesday he would not reveal whether his company planned to pay the ransom or not, or even whether it was negotiating with REvil.

Psaki said that while the administration discouraged such payments, questions about whether the data would be ransomed should be directed to Kaseya.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×