Close Menu
TechBrunchTechBrunch
  • Home
  • AI
  • Apps
  • Crypto
  • Security
  • Startups
  • TechCrunch
  • Venture

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

What's Hot

The US government will charge UK teenagers accused of at least 120 “scattered spider” hacks

September 18, 2025

This is Tech Powering that drives the crackdown on Ice's deportation.

September 18, 2025

ICE Unit Signs a new $3 million contract for phone hacking technology

September 18, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
TechBrunchTechBrunch
  • Home
  • AI

    OpenAI seeks to extend human lifespans with the help of longevity startups

    January 17, 2025

    Farewell to the $200 million woolly mammoth and TikTok

    January 17, 2025

    Nord Security founder launches Nexos.ai to help enterprises move AI projects from pilot to production

    January 17, 2025

    Data proves it remains difficult for startups to raise capital, even though VCs invested $75 billion in the fourth quarter

    January 16, 2025

    Apple suspends AI notification summaries for news after generating false alerts

    January 16, 2025
  • Apps

    Google brings Pixel 6 and new devices to Material3 Expressive, along with other features, to the Pixel 6 and new devices

    September 3, 2025

    Google's NoteBookLM now allows you to customize the tone of your AI podcasts

    September 3, 2025

    Roblox expands the use of age estimation techniques and introduces standardized assessments

    September 3, 2025

    Instagram finally launches the iPad app

    September 3, 2025

    Complete the 2025 Confusion Builder Stage Agenda with the Maximum Scaling Voice

    September 3, 2025
  • Crypto

    PayPal will add a new one-to-one payment link to support Crypto soon

    September 15, 2025

    10 additional exhibition tables open and open in 2025

    September 15, 2025

    Stripe will showcase who WHO including Humanity, Openai and Paradigm to build a new blockchain

    September 4, 2025

    Coinbase CEO explains why he fired an engineer who didn't try AI right away

    August 22, 2025

    Your next customer is destroying the 2025 Expo floor

    August 19, 2025
  • Security

    The US government will charge UK teenagers accused of at least 120 “scattered spider” hacks

    September 18, 2025

    This is Tech Powering that drives the crackdown on Ice's deportation.

    September 18, 2025

    ICE Unit Signs a new $3 million contract for phone hacking technology

    September 18, 2025

    Irregular ones raise $80 million to protect frontier AI models

    September 17, 2025

    Jaguar Land Rover suspends production for third week due to cyber attack

    September 17, 2025
  • Startups

    7 days left: Founders and VCs save over $300 on all stage passes

    March 24, 2025

    AI chip startup Furiosaai reportedly rejecting $800 million acquisition offer from Meta

    March 24, 2025

    20 Hottest Open Source Startups of 2024

    March 22, 2025

    Andrill may build a weapons factory in the UK

    March 21, 2025

    Startup Weekly: Wiz bets paid off at M&A Rich Week

    March 21, 2025
  • TechCrunch

    OpenSea takes a long-term view with a focus on UX despite NFT sales remaining low

    February 8, 2024

    AI will save software companies' growth dreams

    February 8, 2024

    B2B and B2C are not about who buys, but how you sell

    February 5, 2024

    It's time for venture capital to break away from fast fashion

    February 3, 2024

    a16z's Chris Dixon believes it's time to focus on blockchain use cases rather than speculation

    February 2, 2024
  • Venture

    Numbers raise $35 million to automate sales tax with AI

    September 18, 2025

    CEO Chris Britt brings chime playbook to disrupt 2025 TechCrunch

    September 18, 2025

    Thomas Wolf of Hugging Face of the Future of Open AI at atrupt 2025

    September 18, 2025

    Dawn Capital's Samillah Bankiya breaks down the state of the euroventure market

    September 18, 2025

    nvidia ai chip challenger Groq is up more than expected, valuing $6.9 billion

    September 17, 2025
TechBrunchTechBrunch

Should ransom payments be prohibited?

TechBrunchBy TechBrunchMarch 4, 20245 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Telegram Email


Talk of a federal ban on ransom payments is growing as cybercriminals continue to reap the financial benefits of attacks.

U.S. officials have long opposed paying ransom demands. But while several U.S. states, including North Carolina and Florida, have made it illegal for local governments to pay ransom demands, the Biden administration also decided last fall against a nationwide ban on ransom payments. did.

The reason is simple. Not only would banning ransom payments be difficult to enforce and require complex mechanisms that are not yet in place, but criminalizing payments to hackers would ultimately penalize victims of cybercrime. Critics argue that victims could ultimately face legal repercussions for doing what they deem necessary to protect them. In some cases, it saves their business.

Although challenges remain, the US government's thinking appears to be beginning to change.

In October 2023, a U.S.-led coalition of more than 40 countries pledged that governments would no longer pay ransoms to cybercriminals, with the aim of cutting off hackers' sources of income.

Since then, just as talk has grown about the possibility of ransom payments being banned, so too has ransomware activity.

In 2024 alone, we saw financially driven hackers brazenly exploit flaws in various remote access tools at scale to deploy ransomware. Notorious ransomware group recovers from government takedown. A ransomware attack on prescription processing giant Change Healthcare has disrupted healthcare providers across the United States.

Is banning ransom payments the answer? It's not that simple.

To ban or not to ban?

At first glance, the ban on ransom payments makes logical sense. If victim organizations are prohibited from paying, attackers have less financial incentive to steal data. In theory, this means get-rich-quick people will be forced to go elsewhere, and ransomware attacks could become a thing of the past.

Another aspect is that many believe that making ransom payments illegal is an overly simplistic solution to a complex problem.

Ransomware is a global problem. A successful ransom ban would require the introduction of international and universal regulations, which are nearly impossible to enforce given the varying international standards regarding ransom payments. . It would also require governments that provide safe havens for cybercriminals (Russia is subject to obvious name checks) to crack down within their own borders, but governments have no incentive to do so. is not given.

A blanket ban on ransom payments would likely require exceptions for dire situations, such as ransomware attacks that risk loss of life at medical facilities or threats to national critical infrastructure.

Although these exceptions are logical, they also apply to the hackers behind these attacks, which could lead to attacks on the nation's critical infrastructure. And as long as cybercriminals continue to make money, the threat of ransomware and extortion will persist.

Additionally, if a ban on ransom payments is imposed in the United States or other hard-hit countries, companies are likely to stop reporting these incidents to authorities, increasing the likelihood of past conflicts between victims and law enforcement. Some argue that virtually all cooperation is null and void.

Alan Liska, a ransomware expert and threat intelligence analyst at Recorded Future, told TechCrunch that the ban will be enforced either entirely or with some exceptions to payments to ransomware groups. We said earlier that we need to make a concerted effort to better catalog ransomware numbers. “This is so that we can make an informed decision on the best course of action” regarding ransomware attacks.

“There are two test cases in the U.S. that actually prove this point,” Liska said. “North Carolina and Florida both prohibited public entities from paying ransoms to ransomware groups. In both cases, looking at data from the year before and the year after the laws went into effect, these states There has been no noticeable change in the number of publicly reported ransomware attacks against public sector organizations.

Would a ban even be effective?

There is also the question of how effective a ban on ransom payments will be.

As history has shown, hackers pay little attention to rules. Even if an organization complies with an attacker's ransom demand, the victim's data is not necessarily deleted, as the recent legal takedown of her LockBit ransomware gang shows.

Given the brazen nature of these attackers, banning ransom payments is unlikely to deter them. On the contrary, criminalizing payments is likely to drive them further underground and may encourage attackers to change their tactics and operate and transact more clandestinely.

“Is paying a ransom a bad thing? Yes, there is no net benefit to society by paying money to ransomware groups. In fact, there is no net direct harm to society by paying money to these threat actors. ,” Liska said.

“Will banning ransom payments stop ransomware groups from attacking? The answer is clearly no.”

Read more on TechCrunch:



Source link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

The US government will charge UK teenagers accused of at least 120 “scattered spider” hacks

September 18, 2025

This is Tech Powering that drives the crackdown on Ice's deportation.

September 18, 2025

ICE Unit Signs a new $3 million contract for phone hacking technology

September 18, 2025

Irregular ones raise $80 million to protect frontier AI models

September 17, 2025

Jaguar Land Rover suspends production for third week due to cyber attack

September 17, 2025

Insight Partners at VC Company say thousands of staff and limited partners have stolen personal data in ransomware attacks

September 17, 2025

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Reviews
Editors Picks

7 days left: Founders and VCs save over $300 on all stage passes

March 24, 2025

AI chip startup Furiosaai reportedly rejecting $800 million acquisition offer from Meta

March 24, 2025

20 Hottest Open Source Startups of 2024

March 22, 2025

Andrill may build a weapons factory in the UK

March 21, 2025
About Us
About Us

Welcome to Tech Brunch, your go-to destination for cutting-edge insights, news, and analysis in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cryptocurrency, Technology, and Startups. At Tech Brunch, we are passionate about exploring the latest trends, innovations, and developments shaping the future of these dynamic industries.

Our Picks

The US government will charge UK teenagers accused of at least 120 “scattered spider” hacks

September 18, 2025

This is Tech Powering that drives the crackdown on Ice's deportation.

September 18, 2025

ICE Unit Signs a new $3 million contract for phone hacking technology

September 18, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

© 2025 TechBrunch. Designed by TechBrunch.
  • Home
  • About Tech Brunch
  • Advertise with Tech Brunch
  • Contact us
  • DMCA Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.