On May 17, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the establishment of a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to ramp up enforcement efforts against COVID-19-related fraud.
The world’s largest meat-supplying company, JBS, has paid an US$11-million ransom to cybercriminals who last week hacked the company’s computer network, causing operations in Australia, Canada and the United States to temporarily shut down.
The Justice Department announced on Monday that it had recovered $2.3 million of the cryptocurrency ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline Co. to ransomware hackers. The funds were seized from an account located in California, leading many to suspect the ransom was paid to a Coinbase wallet a claim the cryptocurrency exchange has denied.
Originally published on June 9, 2021 5:27 pm
The United States suffered 65,000 ransomware attacks last year – or over seven an hour. And it will likely get worse.
What was previously seen as a nuisance is fast becoming a national security problem as cybercriminals target key parts of the country s infrastructure. A recent attack on Colonial Pipeline sparked panic buying that emptied many gas stations across the Southeast, while another attack on JBS raised fears about the domestic beef supply.
The surge in attacks has been years in the making. Last year, there were 65,000 ransomware attacks, according to Recorded Future, a Boston-based cybersecurity company.
6 min ago
From CNN s Christina Carrega
Sen. Jerry Moran Senate TV
While the proposed $35.3 billion budget for the Justice Department is a 7% increase from the previous fiscal year, members of a Senate subcommittee are concerned that other areas may get neglected.
Chair Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Ranking Member Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies expressed in their opening remarks that they are concerned about the proposed incremental budget for staffing in the Bureau of Prisons, the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals and funds for the crime victims funding.