New Report Emphasizes Cybersecurity’s Continued Importance
A Joint Advisory published last week by several federal agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), highlights the need for robust cybersecurity. The report focuses on the activities of Back Basta, a recently emerged ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variant. “Black Basta affiliates have impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure in North America, Europe, and Australia,” the agencies say. “As of May 2024, Black Basta affiliates have impacted over 500 organizations globally.”
The agencies’ report highlights two realities of modern cybersecurity. First, as cybercriminals become more sophisticated and aggressive, maximally strong protection remains paramount. Lawmakers should reject any proposals that would weaken industry’s existing cybersecurity protections or its ability to innovate further – especially in service of misguided antitrust proposals and European-style competition policy.
Second, the report emphasizes the misguidedness of policies that would force consumers to provide sensitive personal data to access the online services. As demonstrated by Black Basta’s activities — and those of other organizations such as Russia’s Clop — all organizations are susceptible to various kinds of cybercrime, including the largest corporations and government agencies.
Perfect data security is impossible in the digital world, and policies that prolifically create treasure troves of data, ripe for hacking, make criminals work far easier.
Published on May 16, 2024