It is becoming a bigger way for hackers around the world to make money….
Most incidents go unreported. Anecdotally, according to companies that help victims hit by ransomware attacks, more than half pay some form of ransom — estimated last year to average about $312,000, according to Palo Alto Networks, another cybersecurity company that deals regularly with ransomware attacks. Some experts suspect that amount is low.
The attack that led Colonial Pipeline to shut down its 5,500-mile pipeline, causing fuel shortages throughout the southeastern United States, underscored that the ballooning ransomware wave isn’t just about money. Targeting the private businesses that run much of the economy also threatens national security.
…
President Biden on Thursday announced that the U.S. government had “strong reason to believe” the criminals behind the attack lived in Russia, though he said he did not believe the Russian government had directed the assault. Nonetheless, he warned Moscow about the need to “take decisive action” against them. The Justice Department, he said, would step up prosecutions of ransomware hackers and the government will “pursue a measure to disrupt their ability to operate.”
Shortly after Biden’s comments, DarkSide, the hacker ring behind the Colonial strike, told its criminal partners that it had lost control of its computer servers and was shutting down. Some experts and U.S. officials warned this could be an “exit scam,” to pretend they were leaving the business only to reappear at a later date under a different name. In any case, it is unlikely to end the risk from ransomware attacks.
One thing is certain. DarkSide had a profitable quarter. The ring that collected $14 million in ransoms for all of 2020 and raked in $46 million in just the first three months of this year, according to an analysis by Chainalysis.
Colonial told U.S. officials it was not planning to pay ransom, according to three people familiar with the matter, but one person later said the company changed course. The Washington Post previously reported that the company had no plan to pay a ransom. Industry analysts, based on circumstantial evidence in an online ledger that tracks cryptocurrency payments, say they believe Colonial made a $5 million payment. Colonial has declined to say. Both the FBI and Mandiant, the cybersecurity company assisting Colonial, also declined to comment….
…
The international nature of ransomware crime is also an impediment to bringing it under control. The Justice Department and FBI are working with allies and partners overseas to investigate criminal rings, disrupt their operations and online infrastructure, and prosecute hackers, officials said. In January, the department joined Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain in dismantling the botnet known as Emotet, which had infected hundreds of thousands of computers in the United States and caused millions of dollars in damage worldwide. The botnet, an army of hijacked computers, could also be used to spread ransomware.
Biden needs to break his infrastructure plan into two parts…
Roads, Bridges, Broadban and Cyber Security
2nd Part, Green Infrastructure, Community College skills training, child care, pre-k and corporate tax increase to 25 Percent not the 28 percent he proposed… (budget Reconciliation)…and whatever goodies is needed to get Manchin and the Arizona Senator on board…