The Department of Homeland Security has said it has received 321 reports of ransomware-related incidents from 29 federal agencies, The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday.
Cory Bennett writes DHS noted that there were no cases in which agencies paid threat actors due to the inability of the malware to infect the agencies’ network infrastructure.
According to The Hill, Justice Department reported that there were 7,694 ransomware-related complaints filed with its Internet crime complaint center and that threat actors generated ransom payments worth more than $57 million since 2005.
Aliya Sternstein also reported for Nextgov that DHS and DOJ disclosed the figures in response to a pair of Dec. 3 inquiry letters on ransomware attacks issued by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.).
Carper, a ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told Nextgov the Senate panel will continue to investigate cases of ransomware-linked extortion across the federal government.
