Page 39 - FCW, May/June 2020

How COVID-19 is changing
the ransomware game BY DEREK B. JOHNSON
States, cities and critical infrastructure providers have borne the brunt of ran- somware attacks in recent years, but those attacks have not been treated as a national security risk by federal poli- cymakers until recently.
Rob Knake, who served as director for cybersecurity policy at the Nation- al Security Council during the Obama administration, said there was a belief that when cybercriminals hit the low- est-hanging fruit — ill-protected cities, towns and companies — others would
have an incentive to invest in security tools and change their behavior.
“It really wasn’t at the same level as, say, Chinese espionage or Russian elec- tion interference,” Knake said during a May webcast hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is a senior fellow. “Those are the topics that the national security community had been focused on.”
Other than guidance on cyber hygiene, “we really haven’t seen strong leadership coming from Congress or
coming from the White House or for that matter the Department of Home- land Security,” he added.
‘Cash for Cobol’
The financial pressures that cities and states now face because of the coro- navirus pandemic have changed that attitude. A number of congressional lawmakers want future COVID-19 relief bills to include a dedicated source of federal funding for states and localities to bolster their cybersecurity. One bill
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