Cyber ​​security has been at the top of the agenda for Biden’s government after several major and high-profile blackmail attacks in recent times, affecting companies around the world.

– If we end up in a real war against a major power, it will be a consequence of a cybercrime, said Joe Biden during a visit to the supervisory authority for the country’s intelligence services on Tuesday.

In May, the United States’ largest oil pipeline was shut down as a result of a blackmail attack, a so-called ransomware attack. In early July, an attack on the American IT supplier Kaseya had consequences for hundreds of customer companies, including Swedish Coop.

White House: Contact the Kremlin to stop cybercriminals

Several cybercrime groups are based in Russia and the White House states that it has had regular contact with the Kremlin in the past month to get Putin to stop the activities of cybercriminals in the country.

The United States and its allies also accuse China of carrying out extensive hacker attacks, including against computer giant Microsoft’s software Microsoft Exchange, which hit at least 30,000 US companies and organizations in March.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security has created an “ecosystem of criminal hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.