Rep. Garbarino to Newsmax: Biden's Cyber Warning to Russia Wasn't Enough

Cyberattacks hit American targets every day, but it's concerning that President Joe Biden last year gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a list of 16 sectors to avoid rather than telling him not to allow any attacks, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the ranking Republican on the House cybersecurity subcommittee, said on Newsmax Thursday.

"I wanted him to say don't attack us at all, or we're going to come back and attack you right now," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "There are hackers in Russia that are operating freely because Putin hasn't stopped them. The Russian government is probably also attacking us daily because there's no fear of consequences right now and that concerns me very much. It should concern everyone."

Last June, after meeting with Putin in Geneva, Biden said he gave the Russian leader a list of 16 sectors that are critical infrastructure and should be off-limits to cyber attackers, including chemicals, commercial facilities, communications, critical manufacturing, dams, defense, emergency management, energy, financial, food or agriculture, government facilities, healthcare, information technology, nuclear, transportation, or water.

Since then, the president's critics have called the list a road map for Russian hacking attempts.

Garbarino told Newsmax that the United States isn't "waiting to be attacked" as targets are hit every day.

"We have banks, hospitals, all sorts of industry," he said. 'If anybody remembers the Colonial pipeline that was a hack last year, that was done with Russian hackers from Russian soil. SolarWinds was another huge attack that happened to America."

The real question remains about what Putin will hit when he feels like he is cornered, said Garbarino, adding that such targets could include water treatment facilities, power plants, or hospitals.

"Congress has been working very closely with assists of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, which is a part of Homeland Security," he said. "We've been working very closely with them to get prepared, to make sure that private companies that control infrastructure are prepared. We're doing everything we can. But you know, with cyber every day, something new can happen."

The congressman is also concerned that Biden is leading through a lack of peace through strength on the issue.

"He's saying 'hey, get ready, America cyberattacks are coming,' which is just weak," said Garbarino. "Nobody wants to hear that and nobody knows how to deal with it. It is definitely not leadership on this issue."

Meanwhile, the congressman said he wants Biden and the other NATO country leaders meeting in Brussels Thursday to send a message that Russia will face consequences for its actions against Ukraine.

"It's been a lot of empty words," he said. "Last week we sent money. We're sending humanitarian aid. We're sending missiles we're sending weapons to Ukraine. We need to do more. We need to show strength. We need to show strength in numbers. NATO needs to come out and tell Russia. Enough is enough. Get out of Ukraine."

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