Perspective: RansomwareGoing After the Good Guys: The Government’s Ransomware Identity Crisis

Government agencies find it difficult to keep pace with the rapidly evolving cybercrime – especially when it comes to ransomware and malware. Ryan Blanch, a criminal defense attorney who has been involved in myriad cybercrime cases,  writes in Security Boulevard that “sometimes, the government seems to be going after the good guys instead of the bad guys, as evidenced by the recent CoalFire debacle in which Iowa arrested and charged the same cybersecurity professionals it had contracted to try to breach the state’s security systems.”

He adds:

In most cases, it’s at least apparent why prosecutors are focusing on our client. But in other cases, prosecutors are barking up the wrong tree—they’re going after the targets they can find instead of looking for the actual bad guys. After all, career hackers can be nearly impossible to track down and apprehend. In the sports gambling case I handled, my client reported that the New York district attorney’s office wanted to strongarm him into hacking into his clients’ systems to turn over personal data on gamblers and their bookmakers who may be involved in illegal gambling.

Another area where prosecutors seem to be struggling to find and prosecute the right parties is with ransomware attacks. If you should fall victim to a ransomware attack, be very careful how you navigate your crisis. And that goes double for those who try to help you. The government may be looking to indict you both. And the penalties are steep.

He concludes:

The takeaway: If you fall victim to ransomware, hire a cyber security firm to handle it.  If you are such a firm, proceed with caution and consult with legal counsel about best practices.