Pres. Joe Biden's 'Off-Limits' List for Russian Cyberattacks Seen as Permission to Attack Everything Else

President Joe Biden has listed 16 key infrastructure entities that are off-limits to Russian cyberattacks, and he gave it to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Geneva summit.

However, this was criticized by national security experts and senior Republicans as a "green light" to target everything not on that list without facing serious repercussions, according to a Fox News report.

Joe Biden earlier said the list of 16 critical infrastructure entities includes the U.S. energy sector and water systems. The list prompted some experts and members of Congress to question whether everything that is not on the list is, therefore, clear for attacks.

Senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Rebecca Heinrichs, told Fox News that the list was like telling Russia what is most valuable to the country and that they can attack other entities without serious consequence.

Heinrichs noted that the U.S. should be complicating Russia's calculations and not making them simpler, especially green-lighting any kinds of cyberattacks.

Some Republicans have also echoed the same criticisms on Biden's "off-limits" list. Sen. Ron Johnson also told Fox News that Biden's demand for Russia to cease cyberattacks on only 16 key sectors was bizarre.

Johnson noted that Joe Biden's limited demand on cyberattacks could signal weakness to U.S. adversaries that they will notice and take advantage of.

Rep. Elise Stefanik also said that Biden's summit with Vladimir Putin confirmed their worst fear, and that is he is too weak to stand up against foreign adversaries.

Sen. Ted Cruz noted that Biden could not help signaling weakness, even by accident. The Texas senator added that all U.S. infrastructure should be off-limits from Russian-backed cyberattacks and not just certain critical infrastructure.

A U.S. News report stated that Russia expert in the London-based Chatham House think tank, Keir Giles, said there is no indication at all that Vladimir Putin went along with the said agreement.

Cyberattack Repercussions

Forbes reported that Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin that the U.S. would respond with all of its cyber capabilities if Russia carries out hacks. However, he did not elaborate on what exactly would be the possible response.

Biden earlier told reporters that he was looking closely at retaliating against Russia for an attack on the food processor JBS and considered carrying out offensive cyber operations against Russia.

However, the Russian government maintained its stance that it did not sponsor any cyberattacks. Vladimir Putin claimed that most hacks originate in the U.S. and Western allies like the United Kingdom and Canada, not Russia.

Joe Biden said noted that he and Putin agreed to task experts from both countries to work on specific understandings about what is off-limits.

The president said they need to determine whether they have a cybersecurity arrangement that would spark to bring some order.

A senior administration official cleared that the proposal was focused on "destructive" hacks as opposed to the usual digital espionage operations carried out by intelligence agencies around the world, U.S. News reported.

Vladimir Putin said that they need to throw out all kinds of accusations and sit down at the expert level while working on the interests of the U.S. and Russia.

Cyberattacks Against U.S.

Officials said the effect of ransomware attacks had grown ever since Joe Biden had taken office, NBC News reported. Experts cited the Colonial Pipeline attack last month, causing gasoline shortages, as well as a strike against JBS, which threatened a quarter of America's meat processing capacity.

Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said the federal government is working with countries worldwide to hold ransomware attackers accountable.

Neuberger added that the private sector has a key responsibility in this matter.

WATCH: Biden Warns Russia Over Cyberattacks, Says Putin Doesn't Want Cold War - From Guardian News