Latest Wave of Ransomware Attacks Raises National Security Concerns

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ransomware group REvil’s sites on the dark web went down Tuesday, weeks after the group attacked meat processing company JBS and information technology firm Kaseya in a breach that compromised up to 1,500 clients. And those attacks came on the heels of DarkSide’s major strike in May against the Colonial Pipeline, forcing it to temporarily cease operations. Ransomware attacks — which encrypt online systems and hold their data for ransom — more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 in the US, according to a Washington Post analysis. We’ll look at how and why these attacks occur and the national security threat they pose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KikiWED podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine. In August, three or four people sharing a cassida enjoy special vacation packages. Rancho LaPuerta.com. Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill. Comcast business powering possibilities.
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0:32.1	From KQBD Public Radio in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.
0:48.7	Coming up on forum, ransomware attacks have been going on for a long time, but lately the hackers, who lock up a company's data, then demand payment for unlocking them, have gotten more brazen with far-reaching impacts.
1:03.7	The latest attacks affected the U.S.'s fuel and meat supply, prompting President Biden to launch a new ransomware task force and announce this morning new
1:12.9	strategies for combating the cyber threat. This hour, we break down what ransomware attacks are,
1:19.3	why they're on the rise, and weigh Biden's plans for addressing them. Join us.
1:24.9	Music addressing them. Join us.
1:35.6	This is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:43.4	Ransomware attacks have more than doubled in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020, according to a Washington Post analysis. These are when hackers lock up victims computer files so they can no longer access them, then demand payment for unlocking them. The biggest recent attacks hit colonial pipeline in May, causing fear of fuel shortages and lines at gas stations, and hit the company JBS in June, a major U.S. beef producer that also
2:03.7	stoked supply fears and drove up already high meat prices. We look at what's behind these attacks
2:09.6	and how the U.S. is responding. Joining me first is Ellen Nakashima, National Security
2:15.1	Reporter for The Washington Post. Welcome to Forum Mel in Nakashima.
2:19.2	Hey, thanks for having me. Glad to have you here. And so interestingly, the cybercriminal group
2:24.7	that was behind the attack I just mentioned on beef supplier JBS, as well as an attack on Casilla,
2:31.8	a major tech services company, that group went dark this week.
2:35.8	What can you tell us about that hacker group known as Reval, I guess, and what happened on
2:41.5	Tuesday?
	...

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