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On the issue of the recent attacks on US federal agencies, president-elect Joe Biden has promised tougher responses during his tenure. In the statement that was issued by his transition team, Biden said that he had already been told by government officials, about the attacks, with possible Russian origins.

He said that he would make a point of dealing with such matters when he takes office.

Biden promised to make partnerships with the private sector and expand the cybersecurity infrastructure and investment, to curb hacks. He also hinted that the cybersecurity approach will be more stringent, during his time.

Biden wants to go on the offensive

Biden said that having a good defense is not enough. He calls for the disruption and deterring of the adversaries who carry out the cyber-attacks. There will also be other things like imposing a lot of costs on the people responsible for the attacks, including coordination with allies and partners.

He asserted that the adversaries know that when he is president, he won’t stand idly by when something like the recent attacks happens.

In the last few days, the US government has been dealing with a massive cyberattack that was leveled not just against government agencies but also the private sector systems. The attack delivered malware on SolarWinds IT monitoring software and is still ongoing.

Possibly the biggest cyber attack

Microsoft president, Brad Smith, in an update, called the incident an attack on the US, its government, and institutions. It is believed that Russia engineered the whole thing.

Biden has a lot to do in the coming months and years. Sue Gordon, who serves as the deputy director of national intelligence in the Office of Director of National Intelligence, likened the attack to the Office of Personnel Management hack of 2015. It is bigger than that, she believes. Only time will tell what will happen now.

Tip: SolarWinds hack also hit Cisco, Intel, Nvidia, VMware and Belkin