Signaling greater U.S. government involvement in cybersecurity, President Biden in his first State of the Union address last night mentioned bolstering cybersecurity through such measures as making security jobs accessible, combating cyber interference from Russia, and mitigating nation-state threats.
Biden’s address comes as both the federal government and industry ramp up efforts to take on ransomware.
In an internal memo sent to DOJ staff last week, Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin detailed the precarious position citizens, companies, and even government agencies have been put in due to advanced extortion attempts using ransomware:
“By any measure, 2020 was the worst year ever when it comes to ransomware and related extortion events…And if we don’t break the back of this cycle, a problem that’s already bad is going to get worse.”