#DEFCON: Ransomware Moves from Nuisance to Scourge

No attack type has been as impactful as ransomware in 2021.

According to a panel of experts at the DEF CON 29 conference, the rising notoriety and impact of ransomware in 2021 has accelerated the need for both government and the private sector to act—though there was no clear consensus on the panel on exactly what actions should be taken.

Chris Painter, co-chair of the Ransomware Task Force, commented that after the ransomware attack against the city of Atlanta in 2018, more awareness could or should have been raised to help limit future impact. That didn't quite happen, and in 2021, the Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya and JBS meat-processing attacks, among so many others, have further raised the profile of ransomware in the public consciousness. Painter suggested that organizations need to further harden their own defenses to limit potential attackers.

Security researcher Robert Graham, however, doesn't necessarily think that hardening defenses is the best approach.

"The way you secure a bank is not by locking the front door; the bank has to be open for business and you have to have people come in," Graham said. "It's the same thing with networks."

Graham argued that it is unrealistic for organizations to always patch everything. In his view, if they did that, the network will be down basically all th ..

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