On September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an “Updated Advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments.” While this advisory explicitly supersedes OFAC’s previous ransomware advisory from October 2020, it does not fundamentally alter OFAC’s approach towards ransom payments. Like the prior guidance, OFAC’s […]
Search Results for: ransomware
U.S. Government Launches StopRansomware.gov
On July 15, 2021, the DOJ and DHS together with additional federal partners launched StopRansomware.gov, a one-stop hub intended to help the private and public sector mitigate the threat of ransomware. The website includes a range of resources geared towards private organizations, public and private critical infrastructure sectors, K-12 educational institutions, and state, local, tribal, […]
NYDFS Issues Guidance on Cybersecurity Controls to Combat Ransomware and Clarifies Reporting Obligations
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued new guidance this week intended to assist organizations in thwarting ransomware attacks. The guidance clarifies the NYDFS’ expectation that NYDFS-regulated companies should “implement these controls whenever possible” and report any successful deployment of ransomware or unauthorized access to privilege accounts to the NYDFS under its established […]
State Legislatures Consider Bans on Ransomware Payments
As ransomware attacks continue to dominate the news cycle, legislation has recently been introduced in several states that would place limits on certain entities’ ability to pay a ransom payment in the event of a ransomware attack. Although the proposed limits would generally apply to state agencies and other local governmental authorities, certain state proposals […]
U.S. Takes Part in Multinational Efforts to Disrupt Netwalker Ransomware and Emotet Malware
On January 27 and 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two successful operations to disrupt two different strains of malware, Netwalker ransomware and a banking Trojan known as Emotet, which have affected victims around the globe and caused millions of dollars in damage in recent years. The law enforcement actions against Netwalker and […]