Security News > 2021 > January > Biden Orders Intelligence Agencies to Assess SolarWinds Hack
Just days into his leadership role, U.S. President Joe Biden has instructed U.S. intelligence agencies to provide him with a detailed assessment of the SolarWinds hack, which fueled a global cyber espionage campaign impacting many high-profile government agencies and businesses.
The U.S. government and others have said Russia is likely behind the highly sophisticated attack on SolarWinds.
"Even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, so too we work to hold Russia to account for its reckless and adversarial actions," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a press briefing Thursday.
"And to this end, the President is also issuing a tasking to the intelligence community for its full assessment of the SolarWinds cyber breach, Russian interference in the 2020 election, its use of chemical weapons against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the alleged bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan."
In December, Biden said the perpetrators of the massive cyberattack on the US government must face consequences.
"We can't let this go unanswered," Biden said at the time.