Federal agencies announced various programs in response to recently increased ransomware attacks.
The programs range from a $10 million reward for information by the State Department, an online ransomware resource hub hosted by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, and a forum between Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) officials and financial institution representatives.
“In April, the president directed agencies to take aggressive action to counter the ransomware threat at home and abroad,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. “We have coordinated these efforts, regularly convening an interagency task force that drives coordinated whole-of-government action to counter ransomware. Participation spans the whole government including law enforcement, the intelligence community, center risk management agencies, regulators, and other national security agencies. This is a part of our ongoing efforts and our ongoing work of our interagency process that is a newer initiative in this administration.”
Reward
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, will offer a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
Certain malicious cyber operations targeting critical infrastructure may violate the CFAA, the State Department said. Violations may include transmitting extortion threats as part of ransomware attacks; intentional unauthorized access to a computer or exceeding authorized access and thereby obtaining information from any protected computer; and knowingly causing the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causing damage without authorization to a protected computer.
The Rewards for Justice program set up a Dark Web (Tor-based) tips-reporting channel to protect the safety and security of potential sources. More information is available at www.rewardsforjustice.net
Financial Discussion
FinCEN will convene a FinCEN Exchange in August with representatives from financial institutions, other key industry stakeholders, and federal government agencies to discuss ongoing concerns regarding ransomware, as well as efforts by the public and private sectors.
The FinCEN Exchange will build upon FinCEN’s November 2020 event on ransomware.
“As the past few months have demonstrated, the surge in ransomware attacks threatens our critical infrastructure, municipalities and the most vulnerable among us and is increasingly impacting the lives of the American people,” FinCEN acting Director Michael Mosier said. “Since this extortion threatens our collective safety, it is critical that we collaboratively gather to confront this threat together and determine the best way to increase our collective resilience to these malicious attacks.”
Ransomware attacks are a growing concern for the financial sector, FinCEN stated, given that financial institutions can be targeted by ransomware attacks as well as reputational and financial integrity concerns about the role financial institutions might play in the processing of ransom payments.
Online Resources
The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security launched a new website to combat ransomware. StopRansomware.gov establishes a one-stop hub for ransomware resources for individuals, businesses and other organizations.
The new StopRansomware.gov is a collaborative effort across the federal government and is the first joint website created to help private and public organizations mitigate ransomware risk.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting Americans from the rise in ransomware attacks that we have seen in recent years,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. “Along with our partners in and outside of government, and through our Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force, the department is working to bring all our tools to bear against these threats. But we cannot do it alone. It is critical for business leaders across industries to recognize the threat, prioritize efforts to harden their systems and work with law enforcement by reporting these attacks promptly.”
StopRansomware.gov includes resources and content from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services.
“As ransomware attacks continue to rise around the world, businesses and other organizations must prioritize their cybersecurity,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “Cybercriminals have targeted critical infrastructure, small businesses, hospitals, police departments, schools and more. These attacks directly impact Americans’ daily lives and the security of our nation.”
Roughly $350 million in ransom was paid to malicious cyber actors in 2020, the federal agencies said, a more than 300% increase from the previous year. Further, there have already been multiple notable ransomware attacks in 2021, and despite making up roughly 75% of all ransomware cases, attacks on small businesses often go unnoticed.
Many small businesses have yet to adequately protect their networks, the agencies said, and StopRansomware.gov will help these organizations and many more to take simple steps to protect their networks and respond to ransomware incidents while providing enterprise-level information technology (IT) teams the technical resources to reduce their ransomware risk.
