Lawmakers have offered few ideas on how to respond to the wave of ransom-seeking cyberattacks that have struck at least 80 state and local government agencies
Ransomware attacks paralyzed Baltimore’s computer networks for much of the spring, shutting down the systems that
and locking up their computers until victims pay up with Bitcoin or other digital currencies. Baltimore and Lincoln County each refused to pay ransoms but expect to spend big money to recover from the mayhem — $18.2 million and as much as $400,000, respectively.since January that even mention the word ransomware.would begin to address the full scope of the attacks that experts say will become only more numerous and severe.
It’s still unclear how federal, state and local government are even supposed to work together when ransomware hits, said Mieke Eoyang, vice president of the national security program at the Third Way, a center-left think tank that works on digital issues. “We all know what law enforcement does when it shows up to a murder investigation, because we all watch crime shows.
But that will do little to offset the cost of the digital attacks nationally or improve cyber defenses in smaller municipalities.over the summer by a coordinated attack that led Gov. Greg AbbottAtlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called on Congress during a House Homeland Security panel in June to help cities and states by providing money to help them head off and respond to the attacks.
Another complicating factor: Federal agencies don’t always have the same agenda as the localities under attack. “The FBI wants to investigate and prosecute,” said Dermody, now with the O’Melveny law firm. “The private sector and state and locals may want to get back on line as fast as possible” by simply paying the ransom, he said.said John McClurg, vice president and ambassador at large at BlackBerry Cylance.
States also need more immediate information about threats, said Charles Carmakal, strategic services chief technology officer for FireEye,Without help from Washington, state and local governments are acting on their own. At least five states — California, Connecticut, Michigan, Texas and Wyoming — have passed laws to explicitly criminalize ransomware and computer extortion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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