Government intensifies fight against ransomware attacks through establishment of a cyber task force and a civil fraud initiative by the Department of Justice.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced two major initiatives as part of a broader campaign to combat a wave of malicious cyber activity. The initiatives include the launch of the Civil Cyber Fraud Initiative and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who spoke at the Sixth annual Aspen Cyber Summit, expressed concern about the reluctance of some businesses to take responsibility for cyber attacks. Monaco noted that this reluctance is what the bad guys count on.

The Civil Cyber Fraud Initiative, led by the Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Division of the DOJ Civil Division, will use the authority under the federal False Claims Act to pursue both individuals and organizations that fail to monitor and report cyber breaches and other incidents. This includes federal contractors that fail to report cyber breaches in a timely manner, knowingly misrepresent their cybersecurity practices, or knowingly provide deficient cybersecurity products.

The creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team is aimed at strengthening the ability of federal authorities to dismantle virtual currency exchanges and other services used for illegal money laundering during ransomware and extortion campaigns. The team, led by Andrew Adams, will work to protect critical U.S. industries, government agencies, and other private sector entities from malicious cyber activity launched by nation-state threat actors and criminal gangs.

Amanda Wick, chief of legal affairs at Chainanalysis, a blockchain data platform, stated that the task force will help the DOJ develop a more robust response to the illegal use of virtual currency exchanges. Mary Beth Buchanan, president of Americas and chief legal officer at Merkle Science, a blockchain monitoring platform, called the task force an appropriate and proactive response to restrict the criminal use of cryptocurrencies.

The DOJ has previously taken steps to disrupt the use of cryptocurrency transfers during high-profile ransomware attacks. For instance, federal authorities recovered $2.3 million of the $4.4 million in bitcoin paid as ransom to the ransomware gang during the Colonial Pipeline attack.

In addition, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against Suex, a Russia-based virtual currency exchange, for facilitating transactions involving eight ransomware variants.

Cybersecurity experts praised the civil enforcement plans on breach disclosure, noting that some major law enforcement takedowns, including the Emotet and Trickbot cases, were enabled by victims cooperating with authorities. The initiatives are expected to contribute significantly to the ongoing efforts to combat cybercrime and protect U.S. interests.

Government intensifies fight against ransomware attacks through establishment of a cyber task force and a civil fraud initiative by the Department of Justice.