14 DAY TRIAL // Two US senators have sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security and the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, asking them to present a report on the rising threat of cyberattacks, and more specifically ransomware.
The core issue at the root of their inquiry is the fact that US government agencies aren't supposed in any way to help fund criminal activity.
In the past, there have been instances where computers in police stations and firefighting departments were infected with ransomware, and the agencies affected by the malware had to pay the ransom to regain access to crucial information.
This happened to a police station in Swansea, Massachusetts, in November 2013, to the Lincoln County Sherriff’s Office and four towns sharing the sheriff's computer system in Maine. Details about each incident leaked to the press.
By paying the ransom, these agencies indirectly funded criminal groups out of the taxpayers' money.
The Senate wants more details about what the DHS is doing against ransomware
The letter sent by the two senators, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), cites previous operations that have taken down criminal groups running ransomware operations. In spite of all their past successes, US law enforcement agencies still saw a rise in ransomware complaints.
The letter asks the DHS to provide more details about the current state of operations against ransomware operators, how current DHS security and intrusion detection systems are faring in the face of these threats, and what the current support the DHS and other law enforcement agencies are providing to infected victims is.
By demanding that DHS leadership and the Attorney General report on this issue, the two senators are practically lighting a fire under their "directorial chairs" about the rising and seemingly unstoppable force of ransomware infections.
This entire inquiry may have started after an FBI representative told people attending the Cyber Security Summit that the Bureau's policy on ransomware was to advise victims to pay up. The quote was picked up by mass media agencies all around the globe and made headlines since everyone expected the FBI and other agencies to protect victims and fight cyber-threats, not bolster their financial winnings.