What are the major ransomware risks? Why does ransomware threaten industries and citizens alike? What is the solution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regulators have limited tools to counter the threat of ransomware. They can\u2019t outlaw ransom payments or the problem will move underground, and they can\u2019t force cryptocurrencies, which underpin many ransoms, to reveal their owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn why ransomware risks threaten not only private industries, but society as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The energy sector is not the only industry facing a growing threat from ransomware risks. Ransomware groups don\u2019t limit their attacks to the private sector, either\u2014they\u2019ve targeted school districts, hospitals, municipalities, and police forces<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The groups often study their victims\u2019 financials in advance so they can set the highest ransom an organization can feasibly afford, and as a result, the average ransom has doubled in the past year. They\u2019re also finding new revenue streams\u2014though they typically work by encrypting an organization\u2019s systems and offering a decryption key in return for payment, they\u2019ve begun threatening to release a company\u2019s data to the public if it doesn\u2019t pay up<\/strong>. This way, even if a company has a backup of its files and doesn\u2019t need the decryption key, the ransomware group can still force a payment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies often choose to pay the ransom either because they don\u2019t have a backup or because it\u2019s cheaper than recovering their data on their own (which might entail closing for business until the recovery is complete). <\/p>\n\n\n\n And sometimes refusing to pay ransom could cost lives<\/strong>\u2014shutdowns of hospitals or municipal services threaten more than just financial loss, and executives are unlikely to delay paying what\u2019s demanded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers seeking to control the risks of ransomware are looking at cryptocurrencies, which increasingly underpin ransom demands because of their untraceable anonymity. In 2020, almost $350 million was paid to ransomware groups using cryptocurrency, four times the level in 2019<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Regulators in both the US and Europe are thus exploring how to eliminate anonymity. Possible plans include requiring banks and exchanges that deal in Bitcoin to uncover identities, or requiring crypto networks to collect information on users\u2019 activities. However, crypto companies like Coinbase and Wall Street firms who\u2019ve entered the cryptosphere object on the grounds that such regulation would amount to warrantless surveillance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If all companies collectively stopped paying ransoms, ransomware groups would stop attacking\u2014they only do it because it\u2019s profitable. However, it\u2019s not possible to coordinate such a boycott when a company under attack must do what it can to survive, which often means paying up (and insurance companies covering such incidents make that possible).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In avoiding the risks of ransomware, lawmakers also cannot forbid payments, or companies will simply make them quietly and push the problem underground. For now, the best solution remains prevention<\/strong>, but until systems are completely secure\u2014if ever\u2014ransomware payments will likely remain part of many businesses\u2019 operations<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are the major ransomware risks? Why does ransomware threaten industries and citizens alike? What is the solution? Regulators have limited tools to counter the threat of ransomware. They can\u2019t outlaw ransom payments or the problem will move underground, and they can\u2019t force cryptocurrencies, which underpin many ransoms, to reveal their owners. Learn why ransomware risks threaten not only private industries, but society as a whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":77195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,31],"tags":[727],"class_list":["post-77184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-money","tag-articles","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nRegulators Eye Cryptocurrencies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
No Easy Answers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n