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Blinken vows to take measures against Russia-based hackers if Moscow fails to do so

On June 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin branded the accusations against Moscow of being behind those cyberattacks as ridiculous

WASHINGTON, July 14. /TASS/. The United States has made it clear to Russia that it will take measures against hackers on the Russian territory if Moscow fails to deal with them, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"We’re working to bring allies and partners along to respond collectively when others engage in malicious cyber activity. That’s what happened after the SolarWinds intrusion," he told the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s (NSCAI) Global Emerging Technology Summit on Tuesday.

According to the US top diplomat, 22 countries supported Washington’s conclusion about Russia’s role in the attack.

"And that’s important, because when we speak with one voice, we can more effectively deter future bad acts," he said.

"Our message is clear: Countries that harbor cyber criminals have a responsibility to take action. If they don’t, we will," Blinken added.

The issue of threats in cyberspace gained particular importance in the United States in recent months. In early May, attackers from the DarkSide group hacked into the systems of the American pipeline company Colonial Pipeline. According to American intelligence services, DarkSide may be based on the territory of Russia or Eastern Europe, but is not associated with any government. On May 31, the computer networks of the American division of the Brazilian meat processing company JBS were attacked. According to the White House press service, the company believes that a Russian-based cybercrime organization could be behind this attack.

On June 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin branded the accusations against Moscow of being behind those cyberattacks as ridiculous and preposterous. The Russian president assumed that it could have been orchestrated to stir up controversy ahead of his meeting with Biden. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that Russia would quickly consider any requests coming from the US regarding the hacker attack on the meat processing company, if there are any. He also emphasized that Moscow had no information regarding the perpetrators behind the JBS attacks.

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