Over the years, it feels like there has been an increase in ransomware attacks. Sometimes it’s just annoying, but sometimes these attacks can be crippling, especially if they target places like research facilities or hospitals or government institutions. This is why the US Department of Justice has decided that ransomware attacks need to have a higher priority.So much so that they want to give ransomware hacks a similar priority level as terrorism. According to an internal guidance that was sent to U.S. attorney’s offices across the country, it asks that investigations into ransomware should be coordinated with a newly-created task force in Washington.
According to John Carlin, acting deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, “It’s a specialized process to ensure we track all ransomware cases regardless of where it may be referred in this country, so you can make the connections between actors and work your way up to disrupt the whole chain.”
Carlin also notes that this is a similar model that they’ve used around terrorism before, so hopefully with this level of priority given to these types of attacks, it might dissuade some hackers from attempting to carry it out. Whether or not it will remains to be seen, but like we said, given the consequences as a result of these types of hacks, it definitely needs to be taken more seriously.