Cybersecurity
Biden’s Cyber Red Line Is Prime for Putin Challenge, Experts Say
- Issue for U.S. president is finding proportional response
- Previous U.S. efforts at deterrence haven’t slowed attacks
Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden shake hands during the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva on June 16.
Photographer: Peter Klaunzer/Keystone/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin left two things clear: Russia is almost sure to test Biden’s resolve on cyberattacks, and the U.S. president may find his red line with his Russian counterpart difficult to enforce.
In a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, Biden said he gave Putin a list of 16 critical sectors that shouldn’t be hacked lest the American government respond with its own cyber forces. But the U.S. has previously struggled to figure out how to curb cyberattacks by U.S. adversaries, and experts said that deterring Russian cyber aggression won’t be easy.