Biden vows strict response to large-scale cyberattack, says 'can't let this go unanswered'

US President-elect Joe Biden said on December 22 said that the hackers behind the large-scale cyberattack on US federal agencies must be held accountable and vowed to take stringent action against breach which is unofficially blamed on Russia. Biden not only said that the cyberattack must ‘not be left unanswered’ and assailed President Donald Trump for downplaying the severity of the attack and his general response to the threat. As opposed to Trump, Biden used his pre-holiday season remarks to acknowledge the security breach and his plan to deal with it.

“We can't let this go unanswered," Biden said before adding, “That means making clear, and publicly, who is responsible for the attack and taking meaningful steps to hold them in account.”

The President-elect who will be sworn-in on Inauguration Day on January 20, 2021, has reportedly received intelligence briefings on critical national security issues. He even said that officials are still unaware of the extent of the damage from the cyberattack. Just last week, the US cybersecurity agency had flagged the well-coordinated, highly technical operation penetrated American government along with corporate systems several months ago by penetrating into the widely-used security software. Biden said from Delaware that Trump administration "failed to prioritise cybersecurity" and added "enough is enough".

“There's still so much we don't know including the full scope of the breach or the extent of the damage it has caused, but we know this much, this attack constitutes a grave risk to our national security who carefully planned and carefully orchestrated,” Biden said at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware.

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'US Treasury email accounts were compromised'

Biden’s remarks came after a key Democratic senator on December 21 added new details about the extent of the breach and said that US Treasury Department email accounts were compromised in what is being suspected as Russian hack. As per CNN report, Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said in a statement that the committee was informed on the hack by both Treasury and IRS officials and it “appears to be significant” and that "dozens of email accounts were compromised". Wyden also said that the Treasury is still unaware of all the actions taken by the hackers or what is the stolen information.

"According to Treasury staff, the agency suffered a serious breach, beginning in July, the full depth of which isn't known. Microsoft notified the agency that dozens of email accounts were compromised. Additionally, the hackers broke into systems in the Departmental Offices division of Treasury, home to the department's highest-ranking officials," Wyden said. "Treasury still does not know all of the actions taken by hackers, or precisely what information was stolen."

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