Ransomware victims are paying millions to hackers and negotiators are helping them pay. Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the government’s biggest cyber contractors, is one of those negotiators.The consulting firm helps ransomware victims negotiate with and sometimes pay off cybercriminals to reopen hacked businesses — which stands in stark contrast to what the federal government advises.ack in his FBI days, Jerry Bessette witnessed firsthand the carnage caused by hackers.
This time around, though, Bessette is leading the cyber incident response at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which he joined in 2019. In his new role, he is actually helping the firm’s customers negotiate with hackers, something he never did at the FBI. In some instances, he is even recommending paying the ransom, which goes against what the FBI and other U.S. government agencies recommend.
Indeed, the payment of ransoms is fraught with risks. Amongst the biggest is inadvertently paying millions in Bitcoin to a sanctioned entity in a nation like North Korea or Iran. Bessette says that there are ways to mitigate that risk. Booz Allen and digital currency brokers who help organize the payment conduct a series of compliance checks so they do not knowingly pay a sanctioned body.
Hank Thomas, a former Booz executive and CEO of security investment business Strategic Cyber Ventures, says contractors like his old employer are in a “tough spot.” “On one hand,” he says, “they are building world class cyber capabilities for the U.S. government’s defense apparatus to counter global adversaries like China, Iran and Russia.
No it's not the opposite of US policy anymore. Joe Biden's press secretary said she doesn't care if US companies pay ransoms.
Can't think of a better way to entice more ransomware
nice
Good
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Major Government Contractor Booz Allen Helps Cyber Victims Pay Ransoms—Exactly The Opposite Of U.S. PolicyI'm associate editor for Forbes, covering security, surveillance and privacy. I'm also the editor of The Wiretap newsletter, which has exclusive stories on real-world surveillance and all the biggest cybersecurity stories of the week. It goes out every Monday and you can sign up here: https://www.forbes.com/newsletter/thewiretap I’ve been breaking news and writing features on these topics for major publications since 2010. As a freelancer, I worked for The Guardian, Vice, Wired and the BBC, amongst many others. Tip me on Signal / WhatsApp / whatever you like to use at +447782376697. If you use Threema, you can reach me at my ID: S2XY9B9U. If you want to tip me with something sensitive? Get in contact on Signal or Threema, and we can use OnionShare. It's a great way to share documents privately. See here: https://onionshare.org/
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