The Urgency of Ransomware Preparedness: White House Elevates the Status to National Security Threat

The White House has released an update on the National Cybersecurity Strategy, classifying ransomware as a national security threat. With the announcement, the federal government is prioritizing focus on this threat, proposing expanded resources and tools to combat it effectively, and suggesting a liability shift from consumers to technology companies should a breach occur due to code vulnerabilities. 

Ransomware attacks have increased in recent years, causing significant damage to businesses and organizations. The government has been actively working to  combat ransomware gangs, such as the recent Hive Disruption. Still, this new classification acknowledges that more must be done to address the threat and admits that the 100’s of billions of dollars spent on cyber-security and data resilience is not enough. 

Regardless of where the liability lies, reducing the impact of ransomware attacks is a shared responsibility. At the most basic level, organizations should create, maintain, and exercise a cyber incident response plan aligned with recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO). Additionally, they should continue to improve their cybersecurity practices to reduce the risk of an attack and invest in robust data protection strategies, including solid backups to prepare for an event.

Overall, the decision to classify ransomware as a national security threat is a wake-up call that this should be taken seriously and urgently. Organizations must take additional steps to protect themselves. 

Nubeva is at the forefront of ransomware assurance. With a success rate of over 99%, organizations can deploy Ransomware Reversal as a new, essential layer of protection. The Ransomware Reversal technology is being adopted as a part of a fortified data resilience strategy, giving organizations peace of mind that ransomLESS decryption is available as soon as they remove the threat from their environment.