Just days ahead of President Biden's meetup with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin is making the rounds on Russian media.
And he claims to be setting the record straight when it comes to the recent Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods ransomware attacks.
Putin denies Russia link to major ransomware attacks
The FBI has attributed both of the attacks to ransomware criminals known to be operating from Russia, but Putin says he isn't buying it.
"I have heard about some meat processing company, it's nonsense, we understand it's just laughable. A pipeline? It's nonsense, too," Putin told the Channel One news outlet.
And he says those who are asking about this Russian connection to the attacks are doing so for political reasons:
"...they ask these questions, those who try to provoke some new conflicts before our meeting with Biden."
But the FBI in this case hasn't asked if Russian-based hacking groups are involved; they provided the answer to that question.
On May 10, 2021: "The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks."
On June 2, 2021: "As the lead federal investigative agency fighting cyber threats, combating cybercrime is one of the FBI's highest priorities. We have attributed the JBS attack to REvil and Sodinokibi and are working diligently to bring the threat actors to justice."
CNN Military Analyst Col. Cedric Leighton (USAF, Ret.) tells SecureWorld he is not surprised by Putin's statements to Russian media.
"Putin is former KGB. He is practicing plausible deniability, which is absolutely what I would expect here. He will try and deny or deflect any link to these attacks. This is true for cyberattacks committed directly by Russia, or those who are allowed to operate in Russia with a wink and a nod."
Doing this, says Leighton, can help create seeds of doubt in the minds of victims and delay or even derail a response to attacks.
One other thing Col. Leighton points out is that a very prominent strategy of the KGB and Russian intelligence is to disrupt things. In Ukraine, it was the power grid. In the U.S., it was the 2016 presidential election.
And most recently, the Russia-linked attacks disrupted fuel supplies and could have caused meat shortages if not for successfully protected backups.
Now, back to the Putin interview, and another denial he knows anything about these attacks:
"I hope it is, above all else, that those people who can think, see that there have not been and there are no malign actions by Russia. It's above all else," he says.
Now let's see what Biden and Putin say to each other, face to face, when they meet on June 16th in Geneva.
