“Senators Grandstand About Crypto Because They Are Unable To Fix Ransomeware Terror Attacks On Private Companies”
There you go Forbes, I fixed your headline for you.
Now, it is hard to write about this type of article without it being looked at as an attack on a politician, but, lucky for me the two senators quoted here are one republican and one democrat, so they miss the point from both sides of the isle. Here are some of the main points of what they had to say. My thoughts are in bold.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said "the only way you can begin to get on top" of the "pervasive" ransomware problem is "to develop a pattern," before launching into a critique of the anonymity behind cryptocurrencies often used to pay ransoms.
What? Develop a pattern? The pattern is these are Russian attacks. The pattern is already established. The way to stop them is treat Russia as a whole as the attacker. Putin has the ability to stop it. The second item from the quote is using one bad thing and equating it to something else and therefor that thing is bad, too. I guess it works in high school debate companions and presidential debates, so why not here.
"It took gasoline and beef for us to think this is really a serious problem," Blunt said.
That is what it took for you to realize ransomware is serious? I guess the almost uncountable attacks on large companies, government agencies and individuals that have been happening for decades didn’t tip you off?
Though he didn't outline specific policy measures, Blunt said lawmakers shouldn't allow cryptocurrencies to operate "behind the scenes," calling them the "ransom payment of choice" for hackers and a "fairly easy" way to receive money for attacks without a trace.
Once again, crime didn’t start with crypto. Extortion, ransoms, payoffs and back room deals have happened since the beginning if currency itself. The idea that crypto is the problem is just a deflection that they have not been able to stop these cyberattacks and have left it up to the organizations attacked to pay up. I am not saying that criminals have not taken advantage of the decentralized aspect of crypto, just that is a new spin on what they have always done. (Such as, "Fill the bag with small unmarked bills" from every movie where someone robbed a bank.)
In a separate Meet the Press interview, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), stopped short of saying ransomware payments should be outlawed but called for "more transparency" if a company does pay and said he has "a lot of questions" about cryptocurrencies now that lawmakers are "seeing... some of [their] dark underbelly."
Warner, who years ago touted crypto's "transformational" technology, also said the debate around crypto and ransomware "is just starting" and suggested a more immediate solution to curbing cyberattacks "in the meantime" would be requiring companies to notify the government when they fall victim to hacks.
I wont rehash what was said above crypto being what is the problem with these attacks, but on his second point, I am sure that companies would be more than willing to (privately, so their customers are not spooked) let congress know about a cyberattack if they thought there was any benefit to telling them. So far, the administration and congress have done nothing to stop the attacks. Well, nothing except to publicly attack crypto.
Thanks for reading. I will try to find something a little more positive to write about in my next post, I kind of ranted a little bit here.
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