The Government’s Ransomware Ban and Cybersecurity

Below is a commentary by Brady Brim-DeForest, CEO of Theorem, LLC – an innovation and engineering firm – around the U.S. government ransomware ban and the recent call for business leaders to increase cybersecurity to prevent attacks.

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Brady is also Managing Partner at Halmos Ventures and a member of the Forbes Technology Council. In 2015, Brady co-founded Overwatch, which addresses security gaps in IoT-enabled environments (e.g., oil pipelines, autonomous vehicles, smart-home appliances).

Brady’s insight regarding the ransomware ban below:

• “The U.S. government should move decisively to ban ransomware payments. In October of 2020, the Treasury Department put U.S. businesses on alert that it might consider ransomware payments in violation of economic sanctions imposed against criminal groups or state-sponsored hacking groups. Taking the additional step of making such payments illegal would drastically reduce the profitability (and therefore efficacy) of future ransomware attacks.”

Brady’s insight urging businesses to increase cybersecurity:

• “The warning is a long time coming. For those that aren’t already taking active steps to mitigate ransomware attack risks, it is a good wake up call. But, the steps the White House is recommending aren’t nearly comprehensive enough. If your IT organization looks at the best practices listed and hasn’t already been following them for the last 10 years, you need a new IT leader, or you should seriously consider moving all of your core IT systems into SaaS alternatives.”
• “Multiple administrations have failed to adequately address the risks presented by nefarious actors. Ransomware attacks have been an ongoing problem for over a decade.”
• “Most critically, the Federal government should be focused on identifying, and prosecuting the criminal networks, and their support systems, that are conducting ransomware attacks. This will require collaboration on an international scale.”

About Theorem

Theorem, LLC is an innovation and engineering firm that builds custom software for companies making bold bets to stay ahead. Founded in 2007, Theorem’s global cross-functional product development teams drive technology, process, and cultural transformation. https://www.theorem.co/