CyberScoop reports that achieving stronger cybersecurity resilience across critical infrastructure organizations and small- and medium-sized businesses was noted by former Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden to be crucial before implementing a complete ban on ransomware payments.
"What we need to do is prepare for the worst — prepare those organizations to be more resilient against ransomware attacks, because a ban on payments is not going to stop the attacks from happening, but it will starve those businesses," said Walden, who is now Paladin Global Institute president, at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing.
Such vulnerability among SMBs has prompted Institute for Security and Technology Chief Strategy Officer Megan Stifel to urge Congress approval for increased cybersecurity funding for such entities. Moreover, the federal government was pushed by both Walden and Stifel to bolster intelligence sharing and analysis with big tech firms and blockchain forensics experts in a bid to better combat foreign ransomware threats.
