The United States has been at the receiving end of multiple cyberattacks in the past year, most of which have been part of a ransomware scheme. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a report released earlier this year, has largely blamed Russia-based groups for these attacks.

Here are the major cyberattacks targeting the United States in the recent past:

1) Kaseya attack

In an attack that was carried out just days before the United States celebrated its independence day, more than 1,000 businesses across the country were potentially affected, researchers said on Friday. 

However, the company noted that only a small chunk of their customers were affected by the attack, which is “currently estimated to be fewer than 40 worldwide“. Businesses that used the VSA software, which is made by Kaseya and is used to remotely manage computer hardware, were impacted after the attack.

A supermarket chain in Sweden was forced to temporarily halt its operations in nearly 800 stores after losing access to its checkouts.

2) Colonial Pipeline

The US Colonial Pipeline was hit with a ransomware attack in early May this year and was forced to shut down its networks, which ultimately rocked the availability of fuel across the country since the pipeline is responsible for nearly 40% of the country’s supply.

US authorities said that a group called ‘DarkSide’, which reportedly became active last year, was behind the attack. The group is known for restricting computer systems of corporate organisations and demanding ransom in exchange for access.

3) SolarWinds attack

SolarWinds, an information technology giant based in the United States, was subject to an attack from foreign sources, who embedded a malicious code into the organisation’s software. Orion, the company’s lead software, was severely impacted because of the attack. More than 33,000 customers use the Orion software.

4) JBS attack

Meat processing company JBS, which is originally based in Brazil but does significant trade with US firms, was targeted with a ransomware attack. The FBI denoted that a Russia-linked ransomware gang called REvil was behind the attack. The attack ended up with JBS paying a sum of $11 million in the form of Bitcoin, reported AFP.

Last month’s summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart addressed the increasing cyberattacks in the US, which many believe are carried out by Russian groups. United Nations Security Council also organised meetings last month to address the growing need for resolving such attacks.