Lawmakers in the state of Maryland are considering making it a criminal offense to be in possession of ransomware.
A bill was introduced on Tuesday, January 14, that seeks to penalize Marylanders who knowingly possess the malware and intend to use it to cause harm. The bill also grants victims of a ransomware attack the right to sue the hacker for damages in civil court.
The state has already outlawed the use of malicious technology to extort money out of victims. Senate Bill 30, which was heard before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last week, would make it a misdemeanor to be in possession of ransomware with the intent to use it in a malicious manner.
Any person convicted of this misdemeanor could face 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
The proposed law would not apply to cybersecurity researchers who may be in possession of ransomware for innocent research purposes.
Senator Susan Lee, who is the lead sponsor of the bill, said that it "gives prosecutors tools to charge offenders.”
Assuming a remarkable level of naiveté on the part of cyber-criminals who use ransomware to extort vast sums of money from organizations and individuals, Lee said that it was "important to establish [the bill] so criminals know it’s a crime."
In January 2019, the Salisbury, Maryland, police department suffered a ransomware attack that prevented officers from accessing the department's computer network. Four months later, Baltimore, the state's largest urban conurbation, was hit by a ransomware attack that is estimated to have cost around $18m.
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