The Federal Bureau of Investigation isn’t leaving any options on the table when it comes to cracking down on ransomware hackers, Fenwick cybersecurity practice lead and former Department of Justice cybersecurity prosecutor Michael Sussmann told Dark Reading in a recent article.
That means pursuing individual cyber criminals (rather than the syndicates they work for) at an unprecedented rate, according to Dark Reading.
"A perpetrator of ransomware might feel like, 'Well, gee, I was only doing this little thing.' But ransomware is a scourge. It's a hard thing for the government to stop. And so authorities are using all the tools that are available [to punish] these people," Sussmann told the outlet.
Law enforcement still faces significant challenges, however, getting suspects into U.S. courtrooms, Sussmann noted.
"There are lots of countries in the world where you sort of throw your hands up. [But even] if the perpetrators are in friendly countries, it takes a lot of resources to manage those cases," he said.
Read the full Dark Reading article.