Ransomware

Justice 'Hacked the Hackers' of Hive Ransomware, Stopping $130M in Demands

It took national and international cooperation to thwart the group, who targeted more than 1,500 victims.

  • By Kirsten Errick

Agencies Push Deadline to Comment on Would-Be Federal Cyber Insurance Program

Insurance companies are pushing for taxpayer assistance to provide coverage in the event of catastrophic incidents.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Russia Linked to Nearly 75% of Late 2021 Ransomware Attacks, Per Analysis

The analyzed ransomware variants—from July to December 2021—amounted to millions of dollars in damages.

  • By Alexandra Kelley

White House Kicks Off Second International Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit

The gathering, featuring a total of 36 countries, will focus on preventing large scale cyber attacks and money laundering via digital currencies.

  • By Alexandra Kelley

Treasury Seeks Comment on How to Structure a Cyber Insurance Program

The Department’s Federal Insurance Office—together with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency—is soliciting feedback in preparation for a report to Congress.

  • By Mariam Baksh

CISA Requests Input on Terms Already Defined by Incident Reporting Law

The agency is embarking on a rulemaking process to implement the law, which requires those who make ransomware payments to report them to the government. 

  • By Mariam Baksh

Congressional Commission Probes HHS Capability to Address Health Sector Ransomware Attacks

The oversight group wants more detailed information on the HHS’ cyberdefenses as digital networks for critical infrastructure remain a target for malicious actors.

  • By Alexandra Kelley

Ransomware Hackers Will Still Target Smaller Critical Infrastructure, CISA Director Warns

CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales discussed how ransomware actors target companies of all sizes, and how CISA wants organizations to prevent zero-day events.

  • By Alexandra Kelley

Justice Recovered $500K for Victims, Traced Ransomware Payments to China

The announcement emphasizes the department’s new strategy to address cyber threats, which also includes enforcing financial penalties for federal contractors misrepresenting their cyber defenses.

  • By Mariam Baksh

North Korea Behind Manually Executed Ransomware Attacks, Federal Agencies Say

Officials are connecting the “Maui” ransomware to attacks on the public health sector over the past year. 

  • By Mariam Baksh

House Panel Passes RANSOMWARE Act to Get FTC Reports on Cross-Border Work

The Energy and Commerce subcommittee also forwarded a bipartisan privacy and data security bill to the full committee but—lacking support from Senate leadership—that legislation appears dead in the water.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Justice Pursues Collaboration to Fight Cyber Crime with EU Member States

Under an executive order on the responsible development of digital assets, the department recently recommended the U.S. deepen its investment in international organizations to counter ransomware and other illicit activity.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Trackers Say Sanctions Against Crypto Exchanges Are Working in Ransomware Fight

One witness testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee called for greater international enforcement against money laundering.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Senate Report Highlights Lack of Government Data on Ransomware Payments

A new report details the role cryptocurrencies play in incentivizing ransomware attacks and the government’s response.

  • By Frank Konkel
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Transportation Proposes Near $1M Fine for Colonial Pipeline One Year After Hack

The firm has 30 days to respond with evidence contesting the agency’s allegation of safety violations.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Financial Regulator Says Use of Crypto Helps—not Hurts—Ransomware Investigations

Senators left and right are using the Colonial Pipeline hack and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as reasons to both regulate and avoid regulating cryptocurrencies.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Cyber-Incident Reporting Legislation Clears House in Bipartisan Spending Bill

The bill, attached to government funding legislation, now moves to the Senate, which recently passed the same incident reporting provisions separately by unanimous consent.

  • By Mariam Baksh

Russia-Ukraine Conflict Could Push Major Cybersecurity Legislation Past Finish Line

The threat of Russian retaliation against the west is front-of-mind with Senate passage of key bills to require reports of ransomware payments and other cybersecurity incidents to the government, overhaul FISMA and codify FedRAMP. 

  • By Mariam Baksh

Ransomware Attacks Exploded in Number and Scale in 2021, Per Cyber Firm

A new Crowdstrike report describes a dramatic increase in activity from both criminal and smaller nation-state groups.

  • By Mariam Baksh

FBI: Ransomware Attackers Have Code to Halt Critical Infrastructure

Monitoring remote access technology will be especially important for limiting the reach of malicious actors, allied cybersecurity agencies said in a report on trends they’ve observed over the last year in a booming ransomware industry.

  • By Mariam Baksh

New Cyber Safety Board Pivots to Tackle log4j Vulnerabilities

The DHS body’s primary focus will be on addressing vulnerabilities in the commonly used log4j software library, but will also incorporate findings on the ‘SolarWinds’ hack.

  • By Mariam Baksh