DailyPost 1744
KASEYA RANSOMWARE – IT’S A WAR!
Lets ransomware not be treated as a Cyber crime in every case. The context decides what it is actually meant for. The response of the state even if unstated makes it crystal clear, depending on how the state views a ransomware attack or a series of it or something unleashed globally. *Launching an attack at the start of the Fourth of July holiday can have its own connotation, besides the comfort of time that many of the victims would not even come to know of, until getting back to work on Monday. America is at war, another invisible enemy, the heat can be felt all over. It’s like the Pandemic, the virus was not to be seen but the devastation put the country out of gear. The difference is that there is no vaccine for ransomware. The recent ransomware attacks have made organizations bleed. The biggest ransom is the complete loss of trust and credibility of business enterprises and the government.
The Kaseya ransomware attack close on the heels of a discussion just last month with President Putin to stop providing safe haven to REvil and other ransomware in the relentless extortionary attack on businesses on US soil. The present ransomware attack also seems to be of REvil type origin. The US deems it as a National Security threat and so is it. The NSA said that the US President had ”directed the full resources of the government to investigate the incident.” “Since Friday, the United States Government has been working across interagency to assess the Kaseya ransomware incident and assist in the response.” It is an extraordinary situation and the President has urged companies to report to the Internet Crime Complaints Center. It is undoubtedly an extraordinary situation.
Software has become a weapon and the data the prisoners of war and countries are forced to prostrate. This is the new theater of war. The multi-agency investigation on July 2, 2021 ransomware attack said ”the scale of this incident may make it so that we are unable to respond to each victim individually. Something like the hospitals being overwhelmed in the COVID-19 surge. The US would respond if it was determined that the Kremlin had a hand. US has been at the receiving end of state and non-state cyber criminals since the infamous alleged Presidential Elections hack of 2016. Since then the attacks have gone on unabated and in so many cases ransom has also been paid.
”A broad array of businesses and public agencies were hit by the latest attack, apparently on all continents, including in financial services, travel, leisure and the public sector.” John Hammond of Huntress Labs said he had seen ransom demands form $500,000 to $5 million to get the decryptor. The smallest amount demanded is $45,000. What has been realized remains unknown so far. It is an evolving crime. It is said the sophisticated gangs on the REvil level examine the financial records of the victim – insurance claims if they can find them – before they encrypt the data. They threaten to dump the stolen data online, unless paid, which has become another source of income and a nightmare for the victim. What a fate, with police, investigative & intelligence agencies and defense forces intact, strongest of the nations are being attacked with gay abandon in broad daylight.
CYBER DEFENSES ARE THE REAL DEFENSE IN THE COMPLEX TECH WAR OF ATTRITION.
Sanjay Sahay