(TruthandLiberty.com) – In 2021, the United States suffered several major cyberattacks on vital infrastructure. In May of 2021, Russia hacked the Colonial Pipeline, according to US officials, causing refineries on the East Coast to shut down and limit gas supplies. In addition, the US government believes Russia hacked software by SolarWinds that compromised thousands of government offices and companies that use the program.
As the intensity of cyber hacks and ransomware increases and the United States faces a real prospect of conflict with Russia over Ukraine, the Biden administration is stepping up efforts to protect against cyberattacks.
The White House will meet executives from leading tech firms, including Alphabet-owned Google, Apple Inc., and https://t.co/MxZu88dW7A Inc., on Thursday to discuss software security after the United States suffered several major cyberattacks last year.
https://t.co/OrlW2M3Tzl— Newsmax (@newsmax) January 13, 2022
In December, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan informed tech firms that the government had discovered security vulnerabilities. The security advisor warned specifically about weak points in open-source platforms commonly in use among the US government and organizations around the world. On Thursday, January 13, the White House held a meeting with leaders of IBM, Facebook, Microsoft, Oracle and others to discuss concerns and how to improve their software.
On Wednesday, January 13, Western officials rejected a Russian demand that NATO back away from Ukraine and other past Soviet bloc countries. The former superpower aligned 100,000 soldiers along the Ukrainian/Russian border, and Russian officials broke off discussions with the United States saying there was no further reason to talk.
While the United States may not get directly involved in the military conflict, cyberattacks between the US and Russia are likely. Western nations say they’re bracing themselves for the possibility of increased cyberattacks in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Copyright 2022, TruthandLiberty.com
