Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Ransomware Attackers Up Ante as White House Vows Crack Down

Ransomware Attackers Up Ante as White House Vows Crack Down

A series of major cyber-attacks in recent weeks has underscored the brazenness of the attackers and the challenges of tackling the problem of ransomware, just as the Biden administration announced plans to take on the issue.

In a matter of days, attacks were revealed against the police department in Washington, D.C. , where the hackers threatened to release information about police informants to criminal gangs; the Illinois Attorney General’s office, which had been warned about weak cybersecurity practices in a recent state audit; and San Diego-based Scripps Health, where medical procedures were canceled and emergency patients diverted to other hospitals.

Then on Saturday, Colonial Pipeline confirmed that it had joined the list of recent ransomware victims in an attack that threatened to upend gasoline and diesel supplies on the East Coast. While few details about the attack are yet known, Colonial shut down the biggest gasoline pipeline in the U.S. as part of an effort to contain the threat.

“The recent ransomware attacks illustrate, by their number severity and range of targets, why we need to treat this problem on the level of a real national security threat both here and around the world,” said Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues at the State Department under President Barack Obama. “Fortunately, people in our government are paying attention.”

The string of attacks came as the Biden administration has vowed to take on ransomware, which Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week called “one of our most significant priorities right now.” His agency in March announced a 60-day sprint to address ransomware, and the Department of Justice has created its own ransomware task force.



Malicious Link

Ransomware is a type of malware -- often hidden in a phishing email or a malicious link -- that locks up a victim’s files, which the attackers promise to unlock for a ransom payment. More recently, ransomware groups have started stealing data and threatening to release it unless they are paid.

“It’s now a double-extortion scheme,” said Tyler Hudak, who handles incident response for the cybersecurity firm TrustedSec. “A lot of organizations will pay just to make sure their private data doesn’t get out.”

The scope of ransomware attacks is rapidly growing, with police departments, dental clinics, school districts and IT companies among the victims. Cybersecurity firm Emsisoft found that that almost 2,400 U.S. based governments, health-care facilities and schools were hit by ransomware in 2020.

A report released last month by a ransomware task force -- which included cybersecurity experts, government officials and academics -- said the amount paid by ransomware victims increased by 311% in 2020, reaching about $350 million in cryptocurrency. The average ransom paid by organizations in 2020 was $312,493, according to report.

So far, in addition to singling out ransomware, the Biden administration has also vowed to bolster defenses of critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid. The hackers behind the Colonial Pipeline attack took aim at both priorities, though it’s not clear if that was intentional.

While the investigation is still underway, a ransomware group called DarkSide appears to be behind the attack, according to Allan Liska, senior threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.



Double Extortion

DarkSide first surfaced in August 2020 and uses the ransomware-as-a-service model, according to a blog post from the cybersecurity firm Cybereason. DarkSide uses the double extortion method in which it not only encrypts a victim’s data but exfiltrates it and threatens to make it public unless the ransom is paid, according to Cybereason.

“DarkSide is observed being used against targets in English-speaking countries and appears to avoid targets in countries associated with former Soviet Bloc Nations,” according to the blog.

While ransomware is primarily a profit-seeking venture perpetuated by criminals, there are allegations of foreign governments enabling or engaging in the attacks. Last year, the U.S. issued a warning about North Korea cyber crimes, including ransomware, saying the regime was increasing relying on illicit activity to generate money for weapons. In announcing sanctions against Russia in April, the Treasury Department stated that Russian intelligence cultivates and co-opts hackers “enabling them to engage in disruptive ransomware attacks and phishing campaigns.”

What to know in techGet insights from reporters around the world in the Fully Charged newsletter.
A major challenge in cracking down on ransomware is that many of the hackers operate out of countries that are unable or unwilling to prosecute them, making it difficult for authorities in the U.S. or elsewhere to bring them justice, according to the task force report. The hackers insist that ransom payments are made in cryptocurrency, making them difficult to track. It’s also relatively easy and cheap to launch ransomware, since some gangs now sell versions of the malware with instructions and customer service, a sort of criminal variation of the “software-as-a-service” model.

Another confounding issue is that many victims pay the ransom, something the FBI warns against because it encourages the attackers to target more victims and offers an incentive for others to get involved.

The task force report, prepared by the Institute for Security and Technology, includes 48 actions the Biden administration and the private sector could pursue for tackling ransomware, including using diplomacy and law enforcement to discourage foreign governments from providing a safe haven for ransomware gangs and imposing tougher regulation on cryptocurrency.

Painter, who was part of the task force, said it was a “timely call to action.” He added that “this problem will only get worse if we don’t address it now in a comprehensive way.”

Hudak said the success of ransomware gangs depends on establishing a reputation. That’s one reason many of them, including DarkSide, create pages on the dark web showing which companies they have attacked and files they’ve released from victims that don’t pay, he said.

“We’re working an incident right now where DarkSide is involved,” Hudak said. “They do research on their victims. They’ll know much money they make, whether they have cyber insurance and what that insurance will pay.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×