Collaborate Disseminate
Evgenii Ptitsyn is said to have helped operate a ransomware-as-a-service organization that extorted millions from more than 1K victims, including schools and hospitals.
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Rather than focusing on arrests, U.S. law enforcement is trying to prevent additional victims of online crime.
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Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Disruptive Technology Strike Force will use intelligence and analytics to target illicit actors.
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The policy revision instructs prosecutors not to target good-faith security research under the historically fraught law.
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U.S. officials unveiled a suite of cybersecurity initiatives Wednesday, from cracking down on illicit cryptocurrency usages to increasing transparency about data breaches, as part of an ongoing White House effort to slow rampant cybercrime. The Justice Department signaled it will increase its focus on illicit use of virtual money, which is frequently used in ransomware attacks, and move to punish federal contractors that hide security incidents. In a separate plan, the Transportation Security Administration this year will require top air and rail transportation companies to report cyberattacks to the government, name an internal cyber chief capable of corresponding about cyber incidents and develop a plan for recovering from attacks. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco unveiled two initiatives: a national cryptocurrency enforcement team and a civil cyber fraud initiative. Ransomware and cryptocurrency are “inexorably linked” because of the anonymity that cryptocurrency payments help afford, Monaco said at the Aspen Cyber Summit. […]
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The Justice Department is launching a fellowship program designed to develop legal talent to deal with the increasing cyber threats to national security. “As we have witnessed this past year, cyber threats pose a significant and increasing risk to our national security, our economic security, and our personal security,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “We need to develop the next generation of prosecutors with the training and experience necessary to combat the next generation of cyber threats.” The fellowship is the next step in the Justice Department’s efforts to ramp up U.S. legal action against cybersecurity threats. Monaco in June issued a memo to U.S. prosecutors throughout the nation requiring them to notify department officials of urgent ransomware reports. The agency also launched a four-month review in May of its cybersecurity strategy in light of recent hacking campaigns by foreign adversaries, including Russia and China, as […]
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The Justice Department has required federal prosecutors across the U.S. to more closely track ransomware cases and notify department officials of key developments in the prosecution of hackers. It’s a move that, in the wake of ransomware attacks on key U.S. distributors of fuel and meat, elevates the fight against ransomware as a top priority for the government’s law enforcement division. The goal is to have a clearer view of extortion attempts occurring in every state, and any progress that’s being made in tracking down the perpetrators. A memo that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco sent to U.S. Attorneys offices on Thursday requires the offices to notify senior department officials in Washington whenever they learn of a new ransomware attack in their district. Such “urgent reports,” for example, should cover ransomware incidents affecting critical infrastructure or a municipal government — something that happens regularly. “To ensure we can make necessary […]
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The Justice Department is undertaking a four-month review of its approach to combatting a range of malicious cyber activity from foreign governments and criminals amid a spate of ransomware attacks and supply chain compromises. “We need to rethink … and really assess are we using the most effective strategies” against such hacking, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Friday at the Munich Cyber Security Conference. The review of Justice Department policies, which began this week, will cover the cryptocurrencies that cybercriminals use to cash in on ransomware, along with the “blended threat of nation-states and criminal enterprises, sometimes working together, to exploit our own infrastructure against us,” Monaco said. The policy review is an acknowledgement that, despite the Justice Department and FBI investing heavily in efforts to indict and arrest criminals and take down hacking forums, cyberthreats to U.S. businesses and government agencies remain unrelenting. The 120-day Justice Department review […]
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The incoming Biden administration has spent the week heralding some of its cybersecurity-related personnel decisions, even as a couple key jobs remain a question mark. The Biden transition on Friday announced a slew of National Security Council picks. Among them is Caitlin Durkovich to serve as senior director for resilience and response, reflecting a similar role she once held at a Department of Homeland Security division that Congress later renamed and reorganized as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Andrea Kendall-Taylor will take the job of senior director for Russia and Central Asia, areas she worked on during a prior government stint in the intelligence community. “This outstanding team of dedicated public servants will be ready to hit the ground running on day one to address the transnational challenges facing the American people — from climate to cyber,” said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. “They reflect the very best of our […]
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