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Cyber Daily: U.S. Convenes International Summit on Ransomware | DOJ as Ransom Hunter
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Hello. The White House is due to kick off today a virtual meeting of more than 30 nations to strategize about how to counter ransomware hackers and establish norms for behavior in the cyber realm, WSJ’s James Rundle and Catherine Lucey report.
Russia wasn’t invited. For now, officials from the U.S. and Russia meet for separate talks about cybercrime, a Biden official said.
The summit is the latest piece of the U.S. plan to get the upperhand in fighting cybercrime. Another priority is seizing cryptocurrency linked to ransom payments. WSJ’s David Uberti and Maria Armental have some details of the Justice Department’s effort to claw back ransoms.
Read on for more news.
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CONTENT FROM OUR SPONSOR: Netscout
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New Threats To Our New Normal
Recent years have shown us that the future is unpredictable, and cybercriminals have capitalized on it. Being prepared requires developing both short and long-term strategies that put security first.
Read More
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International Anti-Ransomware Summit
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President Biden is in ‘candid’ discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about disrupting ransomware operators, a Biden administration official said. PHOTO: STEFANI REYNOLDS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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‘Exhibit A.’ The U.S. will convene a summit of more than 30 nations starting Wednesday to discuss methods to combat ransomware. Russia wasn’t invited.
Attendees of the virtual meeting, hosted by the White House’s National Security Council, will discuss international cooperation on issues such as the use of cryptocurrency by hackers, norms for conduct in cyberspace and law-enforcement partnerships, a senior Biden administration official said.
“This event over the next few days is Exhibit A of how we’re working with international partners to disrupt ransomware networks,” the official said.
The U.S. is continuing to discuss ransomware with Russia through bilateral channels instead, the official said. “Clearly, Russia plays a role because of a number of criminal actors who are operating from Russia. And that is the reason that President Biden established, with President Vladimir Putin, a dedicated channel for us to have very focused and candid discussions.”
Read the full story.
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More Cyber and Privacy News
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PHOTO: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Following the money: Ramping up ransom seizures is key to a U.S. strategy to slow ransomware attacks, said Leo Tsao, principal deputy chief of the Justice Department’s money laundering and asset recovery section. Mr. Tsao, speaking at WSJ’s Risk & Compliance Forum on Tuesday, didn’t offer details on whether the U.S. would focus on ransoms paid by certain firms,
such as critical infrastructure owners, or sums that reached a specific dollar threshold.
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In June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation snagged $2.3 million of bitcoins paid by Colonial Pipeline Co. during a May attack that disrupted the East Coast’s largest conduit for fuel for six days.
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Yet ransomware groups are adapting their money-laundering strategies, Mr. Tsao said. That includes using overseas exchanges outside the reach of U.S. officials and cryptocurrencies designed to obscure transactions and better shield owners’ anonymity.
More context: How the FBI Got Colonial Pipeline’s Ransom Money Back
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PHOTO: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN
/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The China-U.S. 5G battle has upended what was once a mundane process of setting technical specifications with the O-RAN Alliance, an industry consortium founded in 2018 to develop standards to make cellular equipment interoperable and thus cheaper. (WSJ)
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Olympus discloses second attack. Medical equipment company Olympus Corp. said a cybersecurity incident discovered Sunday has led to disruptions in operations in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. The Tokyo-based company is working to restore its systems, it said. Olympus in September said a cyberattack affected some of its tech systems in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Security Week)
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🎧 Listen: The top U.S. cyber agency doesn’t want to be known as a regulator, enforcing rules and leveling fines. But that’s the role CISA might have to take to get companies to reveal details about cyberattacks. Reporter David Uberti talks through the issue in the latest WSJ Tech News Briefing podcast.
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90 days: Federal agencies have 90 days to figure out how to give the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency the ability to watch activity from devices connected to their technology systems, according to a memo issued last week by the Office of Management and Budget. Such visibility is important to a CISA program for continuous monitoring, to identify cybersecurity problems quickly. The OMB is following up on parts of an Executive Order on cybersecurity from President Biden in May. (NextGov)
More context: Software Industry Awaits Details on Biden’s Order to Report Hacks
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Join us Oct. 21: Attacks aimed at knocking websites and services offline are as old as the internet itself and yet they remain a threat. Hackers, criminals and nation states have developed—or rent—the tools to produce disruptive attacks lasting hours or days.
Hear more about industries most likely to be targeted, steps to take to manage the risk and how attacks might evolve to disrupt new technologies. Register here.
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