Less than a month after U.S. President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin at their first summit meeting in Geneva that there would be “consequences” for future cyberattacks, the Russian leader appears to be testing Biden’s resolve with a fresh series of attacks reportedly emanating from Russia. Most recently, these include attacks against a Republican National Committee contractor and Kaseya, U.S. information technology firm.
Some cyber experts said such escalation was to be expected ahead of any substantive negotiations between Moscow and Washington. “Putin is going to keep escalating,” said Richard Andres, a cyber expert at the National War College who served under U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “All his probes have been successful in the past. He’s going to try again.” Putin’s goal, Andres and other experts said, seems clear: to define what Biden’s red lines are and what the U.S. president might do to retaliate—and then to see how Biden reacts when Putin counterpunches.
