In 2021, North Carolina became the first state to prohibit public ransomware payments, even going so far as to ban negotiations with cyber criminals. It was a groundbreaking move. Florida followed suit in 2022, but its legislation took a less stringent approach, covering a narrower range of entities and omitting some of the stricter provisions found in North Carolina’s law.
North Carolina and Florida’s bans are the only ones that exist at the state level, but they have ignited a nationwide conversation about the best way to combat this pervasive cyber threat. Years later, experts still haven’t come to a unified conclusion about whether it’s the right approach. The heart of the matter lies in a moral and fiscal dilemma: Should governments refuse to fund criminal enterprises, even when the alternative could mean crippling disruptions to essential services like hospitals, schools and public safety?
Read more…
Source: Government Technology
Related:
- Old-School Bagle Worm Spotted in Modern Spam Campaigns
December 10, 2018
Fresh mass-email campaigns spreading the long-running Bagle worm have recently been spotted, affecting Microsoft Windows machines. These appear to be a throwback to an earlier time. Also referred to as Beagle, Bagel contains a backdoor that listens on TCP port 6777 which is hardcoded in the worm’s body. This backdoor component provides remote access to the ...
- DarkVishnya: Banks attacked through direct connection to local network
December 6, 2018
While novice attackers, imitating the protagonists of the U.S. drama Mr. Robot, leave USB flash drives lying around parking lots in the hope that an employee from the target company picks one up and plugs it in at the workplace, more experienced cybercriminals prefer not to rely on chance. In 2017-2018, Kaspersky Lab specialists were invited to research ...
- IoT Botnets Behind 78% of Malware Network Events in 2018 According to Report
December 6, 2018
Internet of things (IoT) botnet activity during 2018 was behind roughly 78% of all network malware events detected by the NetGuard Endpoint Security solution deployed on more than 150 million devices according to a report by the Nokia Threat Intelligence Lab. The Nokia Threat Intelligence Report 2019 report was also performed using multiple malware sandboxes and honeypots, on both ...
- New Ransomware Spreading Rapidly in China Infected Over 100,000 PCs
December 4, 2018
A new piece of ransomware is spreading rapidly across China that has already infected more than 100,000 computers in the last four days as a result of a supply-chain attack… and the number of infected users is continuously increasing every hour. What’s Interesting? Unlike almost every ransomware malware, the new virus doesn’t demand ransom payments in Bitcoin. Instead, ...
- 500 Million Marriott Guest Records Stolen in Starwood Data Breach
November 30, 2018
The world’s biggest hotel chain Marriott International today disclosed that unknown hackers compromised guest reservation database its subsidiary Starwood hotels and walked away with personal details of about 500 million guests. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide was acquired by Marriott International for $13 billion in 2016. The brand includes St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W ...
- U.S Charges Two Iranian Hackers for SamSam Ransomware Attacks
November 28, 2018
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday charges against two Iranian nationals for their involvement in creating and deploying the notorious SamSam ransomware. The alleged hackers, Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah, 27, have been charged on several counts of computer hacking and fraud charges, the indictmentunsealed today at New Jersey court revealed. The duo used SamSam ransomware to ...