President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a list of 16 critical infrastructure "entities" that must be "off-limits" to cyberattacks and hinted at major retaliation from the United States should Russia allow continued malign activity in the sphere.

Biden, speaking ahead of his press conference following a slate of bilateral meetings with Putin and Russian officials, claimed the topic of cybersecurity was included in a discussion on establishing a "mechanism" for "strategic stability."

PUTIN SPINS GLOBAL CYBERATTACKS, SAYS 'MAJORITY' ORIGINATE FROM WITHIN U.S.

"I talked about the proposition that certain critical infrastructure should be off-limits to attack, period, by cyber or any other means," the president stated. "I gave them a list, and I don't have it in front of me, if I am not mistaken, of 16 entities — 16 defined as critical infrastructure, from the energy sector to our water systems."

Biden hammered the need for the two countries "to take action against criminals that conduct ransomware activities on their territory."

"So we agreed to task experts in both our countries to work on specific understandings about what is off-limits and to follow up on specific cases that originate in other countries, and that's either of our countries," he continued.

"We'll find out whether we have a cybersecurity arrangement that begins to bring some order," Biden added later in his remarks. "I looked at him. I said, ‘How would you feel if ransomware took on the pipelines from your oil fields?’ He said, ‘It would matter.’ This is not about just our self-interest."

It's worth noting that Putin also mentioned the cybersecurity discussion during his Wednesday press conference, but he also blamed the U.S. for the "majority" of international cyberattacks.

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Tags: News, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Russia, White House, Cybersecurity

Original Author: Christian Datoc

Original Location: Biden gave Putin list of 16 critical infrastructure 'entities' that must be off-limits to cyberattacks