DSIR Deeper Dive into the Data: Ransomware Front and Center

By Joseph L. Bruemmer and Elise Elam on June 16, 2022 Posted in Ransomware

There is no question that ransomware is here to stay. Thirty-seven percent of the matters we handled last year involved ransomware, compared to 27 percent of matters in 2020. In 2019, there were approximately 15 active ransomware threat actor groups. In 2021, we handled matters involving more than 80 different ransomware variants. Government entities and … Continue Reading

OFAC Doubles Down on Malware Cyber Actors

By Barbara Linney and Orga Cadet on November 1, 2020 Posted in Malware

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFACas added another cyber actor to the SDN list. As a result, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any dealings with the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM), a Russian government research institution that is said to … Continue Reading

Was OFAC’s Advisory an October Surprise or More of the Same?

By Theodore J. Kobus III, Lee Casey and Barbara Linney on October 3, 2020 Posted in Ransomware

Ransomware has hit pandemic proportions and there does not seem to be a clear end in sight. On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an advisory regarding ransom payments and the risk of sanctions violations associated with such payments. Background Ransomware has been around for … Continue Reading