US Congressman Urges Biden To Punish China For Recent Microsoft Hack - Letter

(@FahadShabbir)

US Congressman Urges Biden to Punish China for Recent Microsoft Hack - Letter

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) President Joe Biden needs to sanction China over the nation's recent cyber strike against microsoft to dissuade Beijing from a policy of hacking the United States and its allies, ranking Republican on the US House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers said on Wednesday.

"I implore you to impose significant sanctions using the authorities in Executive Order 13694, criminal charges, or other punitive measures against the People's Republic of China and the state affiliated actors responsible for the cyberattack on the Microsoft email exchange," Rogers wrote in a letter to the president.

The 2015 order calls for economic sanctions against individuals and nations responsible for malicious cyber activities against the United States.

By failing to punish China for the Microsoft hack and other cyber intrusions with penalties comparable to sanctions imposed on Russia over last year's Solar Winds intrusion, Rogers said the US risks creating an "unacceptable double standard in this era of great power competition.

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The Biden administration and Western allies formally blamed China on Monday for a massive hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software and asserted that criminal hackers associated with the Chinese government have carried out ransomware and other illicit cyber operations.

Rogers said he welcomed the public condemnation of China while noting that the announcement was not accompanied by sanctions.In April, Biden imposed a range of retaliatory measures against Russia for alleged election interference and malicious cyberactivity, including last year's Solar Winds attack. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.