US makes it illegal to facilitate ransomware payments

The US Treasury has started a crackdown on consultants who help organizations to facilitate ransomware payments by making the practice illegal.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned in a pair of advisories that facilitators could be prosecuted even if they or the victims were not aware that the hackers demanding the ransom were subject to US sanctions.

Hackers encrypt computers to hostage company data until a payment is made.

Alon Gal, chief technology officer of Hudson Rock, said the advisories were a game-changer, as companies could not freely decide whether or not to pay cybercriminals off.

Hudson Rock works to head off ransomware attacks before they happen.

With those decisions now brought under government oversight, there would be tougher handling of those incidents.

The Enforcement Network also required cybersecurity firms to register as money services businesses if they help make ransomware payments, imposing a new reporting requirement on the cybersecurity industry.