US president Joe Biden has warned that the US could end up in a “real shooting war” in the aftermath of a major cyberattack.

The comments came during a speech at the office for the director of national intelligence, which has authority over 18 different US intelligence agencies.

The news comes after the US has experienced an array of serious cyberattacks in 2021, including the attack on the Colonial Pipeline and meat processor JBS, which impacted food and gas supplies in some areas.

Biden warned Russia during June’s Geneva summit that the US would respond with counter cyberattacks if its critical infrastructure - including energy, healthcare, IT, and financial services – were targeted by hackers.

The US president also accused Russia of interfering in the upcoming 2022 US Midterm Elections, claiming that doing so is a “pure violation” of US sovereignty.

Earlier this month UK and US authorities accused a Russian spy agency of conducting an organised long-term campaign against “hundreds of governments and private sector targets.”

The US was ranked in June as a “first tier” cyberpower by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), outstripping Russia, China, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, and Israel who were dubbed “second tier”.

One the US’s main distinguishing factors according the IISS is its pool of cybersecurity talent and the fact that many “structurally important” BigTech firms are based there.

"I think it's more than likely we're going to end up, if we end up in a war - a real shooting war with a major power - it's going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence and it's increasing exponentially, the capabilities," said Biden.

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