CREEPER WORLD HACKED FULL WELL WHO

About a month ago REvil came back to score what may be the biggest attack yet, freezing the systems of about a thousand companies after hacking an IT service provider they all used. (Some was recovered by the Justice Department.) In June, the meat processor JBS paid $11 million to the Russian-based REvil (Ransomware Evil) gang. In early May, Colonial Pipeline shelled out $5 million to the DarkSide ransomware gang to get oil flowing through its pipes again.

How many have been hit is anybodyвЂ™s guess вЂ” unlike breaches of personal information, the law does not require most ransomware attacks to be reported (though that is another thing Congress may soon change).The F.B.I. The Colonial Pipeline attack created an almost instant shortage of fuel and spread panic in the southeastern United States.Big strikes make the big news, but the main prey of the ransomware gangs is the small to medium enterprise or institution that is devastated by the disruption of its computers and the ransom payment. While the extortion business is run by a relatively small network of criminals seeking windfall profits, their ability to seriously disrupt economies and to breach strategically critical enterprises or agencies also makes them a formidable potential threat to national security. Using methods as simple as spoof emails, hackers can take over entire computer systems and pilfer personal data and passwords and then demand a ransom to restore access.In about a dozen years, ransomware has emerged as a major cyberproblem of our time, big enough for President Biden to put it at the top of his agenda with RussiaвЂ™s president, Vladimir Putin, when they met in June and for lawmakers in Congress to be working on several bills that would, among other things, require victims to report attacks to the government.It is a war that needs to be fought, and won. Ransomware attacks can cripple critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools and even core functions of major cities. The criminals behind ransomware have also evolved, expanding from lone sharks to a business in which tasks are farmed out to groups of criminals specializing in hacking, collecting ransom or marshaling armies of bots.

Companies that are small, libraries, fire departments will never afford the required security technology and talent.вЂќThe battle must be joined elsewhere, and the place to start is Russia. вЂњWe have too many vulnerabilities. вЂњWeвЂ™re not going to defend ourselves out of this problem,вЂќ said Dmitri Alperovitch, the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator and a leading authority on ransomware. Most of them, Statista said, were in the professional sector вЂ” lawyers, accountants, consultants and the like.Whatever the true scope, the problem will not be solved with patches, antivirus software or two-factor authentication, though security experts stress that every bit of protection helps. The German data-crunching firm Statista has estimated that there were 304 million attacks worldwide in 2020, a 62 percent increase over 2019. The reality is probably of a different magnitude.

Creeper World Hacked Full Well Who

Industry, and attacking hundreds of its small-business customers. Biden said he demanded that Russia take down the ransomware gangs it harbors and identified 16 critical sectors of the American economy on which attacks would provoke a response.Yet two weeks later, REvil made the biggest strike ever, hacking into Kaseya, a firm that supplies management software for the I.T. At his summit with him in June, Mr. Putin to act against them. So the presumption is that the criminals are protected, either through bribes вЂ” which, given their apparent profits, they can distribute lavishly вЂ” or by doing pro bono work for the government or both.The key is to compel Mr. Three other countries вЂ” China, Iran and North Korea вЂ” are also serious players, and the obvious commonality is that all are autocracies whose security apparatuses doubtlessly know full well who the hackers are and could shut them down in a minute.

Putin probably sees no reason to shut them down. Biden persuaded the Russians to act or knocked the bandвЂ™s servers out with American means, it is equally possible that REvil went dark on its own, intending, as happens so often in its shadowy world, to reappear later in other guises.So long as the hackers focus on commercial blackmail abroad, Mr. Biden simply said, вЂњYes.вЂќ Shortly after that, REvil abruptly disappeared from the dark web.Tempting as it might be to believe that Mr.

вЂњItвЂ™s absurd to accuse Russia of this.вЂќThe Russians apparently also believe they can parlay their control over the ransomware gangs into negotiating leverage with the West. ItвЂ™s funny,вЂќ he said in June when asked about RussiaвЂ™s role in ransomware attacks. Putin can deny any responsibility for what the criminal gangs do. Unlike the вЂњofficialвЂќ hackers working for military intelligence who have drawn sanctions from Washington and Europe for meddling in elections or mucking around in government systems, Mr.

For reasons still unclear, Donald Trump as president was prepared to give Mr. Putin does not appreciate how seriously the new American president takes ransomware. Alperovitch, suggests that Mr. Ransomware, he implied, was part of a bigger pile of bargaining chips.That, said Mr.

If the Russians do not, the authors wrote, the Biden administration вЂњcould hit Russia where it hurts by sanctioning its largest gas and oil companies, which are responsible for a significant portion of the Russian governmentвЂ™s revenue.вЂќDrawing red lines for Russia does not usually work. Putin with a clear message: Crack down or else. Alperovitch and Matthew Rojansky, an expert on Russia who heads the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, argued that Mr. Biden, by contrast, sees himself as the champion of small business and the middle class, and it is there that ransomware hurts the most.Writing in The Washington Post, Mr.

If this is not stopped soon, further escalation вЂ” and the growth of organized cybercrime syndicates in other dictatorships вЂ” is all but certain. Companies will be reluctant to damage their brand by acknowledging that they have been hacked or have paid ransom, and lawmakers have been traditionally wary of passing laws that impose burdens on businesses.But letting Russian hackers continue to wreak havoc on AmericaвЂ™s and the worldвЂ™s digital infrastructure with impunity is an immediate and critical challenge. Devising ways to control cryptocurrency is bound to be complex and fraught.