By James Rundle and Kim S. Nash
A rash of cybercrimes against companies and critical
infrastructure requires a muscular response from the U.S.
government, even as companies themselves must take steps to combat
attacks, executives and cyber officials say.
Ransomware has become an intolerable situation for many nations,
said Kevin Mandia, chief executive of cybersecurity firm FireEye
Inc.
"Pharmaceuticals, hospitals, healthcare, public companies,
organizations that don't have the talent and skills to defend
themselves -- they're getting sucker punched," Mr. Mandia said
during the WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Executive Forum.
A ransomware attack on meat processor JBS SA is the latest
incident showing how cyber hacks of major companies can ripple
across the world. The meatpacker took a big chunk of U.S.
beef-and-pork processing offline, sending buyers scrambling for
alternatives and raising pressure on meat supplies.
The White House on Tuesday said the attack was part of a
ransomware campaign by a criminal group that is likely based in
Russia.
A May 7 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. led to a
six-day shutdown of the East Coast's largest conduit for fuel,
sparking scrutiny of pipeline security and pushing the Department
of Homeland Security to prepare to issue first-of-their-kind
cybersecurity regulations for the sector.
"It was a moment where I think a lot of America woke up to the
reality that the cyber realm and the physical realm are becoming
increasingly intertwined," Rob Joyce, director of the National
Security Agency's cybersecurity directorate, said at the same
conference.
Colonial paid a $4.4 million ransom to get code to unlock its
data and systems, but the decryption tool wasn't fully successful.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that a criminal group
known as DarkSide operating from Russia was responsible for the
attack.
President Biden, in his June 16 summit with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, must push for an agreement to rein in ransomware
gangs, Mr. Mandia said.
To fight the cybercrime wave, the U.S. should pursue economic
sanctions, technology protections and diplomacy, he said. "You
gotta pull every lever on this one," he said. "We have to impose
repercussions and costs."
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said
Tuesday that the Biden administration had launched a strategic
review designed to combat ransomware, and said the White House has
delivered the message that "responsible states do not harbor
ransomware criminals."
Part of the issue with the barrage of cybercrimes faced by
public and private organizations isn't just the immediate economic
damage of a ransom, but the length of time it can take to recover
from an attack, executives said.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, for instance,
still doesn't have its systems fully operational more than five
months after being attacked on Christmas Eve last year, CEO Terry
A'Hearn said at the WSJ event. The agency, which didn't pay the
ransom, is completely rebuilding its systems, he said.
Likewise, the Colonial Pipeline shutdown resulted in fuel
shortages across Southeastern states, and pushed gas prices to the
highest point in six years.
Yet, ransomware is one aspect of what companies describe as a
continuous assault of cyberattacks. Marene Allison, the chief
information security officer at Johnson & Johnson, said at the
WSJ event that the pharmaceutical giant experiences around 15.5
billion cybersecurity incidents a day. Not all are determined
attacks, she said, but the volume is unrelenting.
"You will see attacks, whether it be through your email, through
your systems, through your network, all day long. Twenty four by
seven from around the world," she said.
International rules governing conduct among nations are
outdated, Ms. Allison said, pointing to United Nations articles
that specify ways a country can enforce its decisions or defend
itself, short of armed military action. These include severing
diplomatic ties or interrupting communications.
"Some of those were written when warships had to come to the
U.S. and take a cannon and fire," she said. "Today in
cybersecurity, it's much different."
Officials say that countering cybercrime can't just be left to
the federal government, and that companies also have to take
responsibility for their security.
"It isn't always the extravagant attack that succeeds. It's
often very basic things where a door is left open that people
exploit," said Mr. Joyce of the NSA. His agency and others publish
detailed information on attacks such as the breach of SolarWinds
software because they hope the private sector will fix known
weaknesses, he said.
Mr. Mandia of FireEye said that the volume of attacks arrayed
against companies means future incidents are inevitable, despite
best efforts to address cybersecurity weaknesses.
"Every slap shot is coming at us, and the puck is going to get
through," he said.
Write to James Rundle at james.rundle@wsj.com and Kim S. Nash at
kim.nash@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 02, 2021 14:57 ET (18:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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