The FBI is investigating approximately 100 different types of ransomware, many coming from Russian hackers, underscoring the burgeoning problem of cyberattacks.
Each of the 100 different types of ransomware attacks on computer systems has affected between 12 to 100 targets, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
He added that complaints to the FBI and reports from the private sector show cyberattacks on digital infrastructure have tripled in the past year, putting the cost of ransomware at hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars annually, according to private sector estimates.
“Now realizing it can affect them when they’re buying gas at the pump or buying a hamburger — I think there’s a growing awareness now of just how much we’re all in this fight together,” Wray said.
“The scale of this problem is one that I think the country has to come to terms with,” he said.
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Recent ransomware attacks by Russian hacking groups on the computer systems of the Colonial Pipeline gas operator and JBS, the biggest beef producer in the United States, among other entities, have forced the federal government to focus greater attention and resources on cyberattacks and to roll out new initiatives.
The Justice Department announced Thursday that it is giving higher priority to investigations of ransomware attacks, on par with terrorism, after recent cyberattacks elevated the problem.
The White House on Thursday pushed businesses and companies to take cyberattacks more seriously, outlining in a letter steps organizations should take to protect themselves from such attacks.
The White House letter stressed that the Biden administration and the federal government are “working with like-minded partners around the world to disrupt and deter ransomware actors” and pointed out the responsibility the private sector had in fighting cyberattacks.
Wray singled out Russia for blame for the ransomware problems because it is the origin of many of the recent criminal hacks.
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“If the Russian government wants to show that it’s serious about this issue, there’s a lot of room for them to demonstrate some real progress that we’re not seeing right now,” Wray said during the interview.
