On October 13, 2020, state financial regulators in partnership with the Bankers Electronic Crimes Taskforce and the U.S. Secret Service, released the Ransomware Self-Assessment Tool (R-SAT) to help financial institutions mitigate the risks of ransomware. The R-SAT is a detailed questionnaire designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an institution’s general security controls as well as […]
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FinCEN Alerts Financial Institutions on Role in Facilitating Ransomware Attacks
With an increase in the frequency, sophistication, and cost of ransomware attacks, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory on October 1, 2020 alerting financial institutions to ransomware trends and typologies, and related financial red flags, that may result in a regulatory obligation to report and share information related to ransomware attacks. Based […]
OFAC Ransomware Advisory Warns Companies of Potential Civil Liability
Yesterday, October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued its “Advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments.” The advisory begins with the observation that “ransomware attacks have become more focused, sophisticated, costly, and numerous,” citing certain FBI statistics, before making clear what was already well […]
FBI Releases IC3 2019 Internet Crime Report
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (“IC3”) has released its 2019 Internet Crime Report (“Report”) on trends and statistics of suspected cybercrimes from 2019. The Report gathers data from 467,361 complaints, an increase from prior years, with dramatic losses in excess of $3.5 billion. In addition to an explanation of the IC3’s history and operations, […]