14 DAY TRIAL // Biden will speak with Merkel on a range of issues during her visit to the United States this week. There will be discussions on cyberattacks, the Covid-19 pandemic, the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, and the Nord Stream 2 natural gas project, among other things, says CNBC.
Germany's national election will take place three months after Merkel's meeting with President Biden on July 15th. She has already said that she intends to retire after the September elections.
Nevertheless, a German government official who wished to remain anonymous, said that Merkel's trip to Washington will be a working visit from their perspective. He added “Obviously, over the past years, we had a number of fits and starts in the bilateral relationship. The entire focus was on issues where we disagreed,”
Cybersecurity focus
The latest ransomware attack, announced last week by Kaseya, successfully hacked the networks of thousands of companies in North America and 6 European countries in a domino effect. REvil cybercriminal gang has claimed responsibility for the Kaseya attack.
Biden and Merkel will discuss the critical increase in massive cyberattacks that can easily reach multiple industries and government institutions worldwide.
In May, the DarkSide cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline forced it to shut down its operations along with 5,500 miles of pipeline on the East Coast. This security incident led to disruptions in air traffic and the shortage of half of the fuel supply from the East Coast. While the Russian hackers managed to extract a ransom of nearly $5 million from the organization, law enforcement officials in the United States were, fortunately, able to recover nearly half of that money, $2.3 million in Bitcoin.
After the United States government stated that it will respond to cyberattacks in the same manner as it does to military attacks, the Russian hacking gang DarkSide allegedly ceased operations. However, another Russian hacking gang dubbed REvil has stated that they will not only continue their hacking campaigns but that they will also target additional targets located in the United States.