Biden: If US has 'real shooting war' with 'major power' it'll be because of cyber attacks

US President Joe Biden on July 27 warned that cyber-attacks could escalate into a “real shooting war” with a “major power” (US). In a speech at the Office for the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 US intelligence agencies, Biden said that cyber threats including ransomware attacks “increasingly are able to cause damage and disruption in the real world”. He highlighted growing threats posed by Russia and China and also noted a series of high profile attacks on entities such as network management company SolarWinds, the Colonial Pipeline company, meat processing company JBS and software firm Kaseya. 

Biden said, “I think it’s more than likely we’re going to end up, if we end up in a war – a real shooting war with a major power – it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence and it’s increasing exponentially, the capabilities”. 

‘Pure violation of sovereignty’

The Biden administration has repeatedly accused the governments of Russia and China of some of the attacks. The United States has even warned that they would respond with a “mix of tools seen and unseen” actions, however, cyber breaches have continued. On Tuesday, Biden did not say who such a war might be fought against, but he immediately name-checked Russian President Vladimir Putin and alleged that Russia was spreading misinformation ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections. 

“It’s a pure violation of our sovereignty,” Biden said. “Putin . . . has a real problem. He is sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else. Nothing else. He knows he’s in real trouble, which makes him even more dangerous,” the US President added. 

Further, Biden also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was “deadly earnest” about China becoming the most powerful military force in the world by the 2040s, as well as the largest and most prominent economy. “It’s real . . . This boy’s got a plan,” Biden said, adding: “We better figure out how we’re going to keep pace without exacerbating [the situation]”. He also stressed that cyber attacks were just one aspect of the growing threats facing the US. he added that there would be more developments in the next 10 years than in the past 50, placing a tremendous burden on the intelligence community. 

“It’s really going to get tougher,” he said.

(Image: AP/Unsplash)