Ransomware Nothing New – But Scope Significant

Posted: May 15th, 2017

By Todd Rosenblum

Todd M. Rosenblum served as President Obama’s Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs at the Pentagon, as well as Deputy Under Secretary of Intelligence for Plans, Policy, and Performance Management at the Department of Homeland Security. Over the course of a 27-year career, Rosenblum held positions with the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Department of State, and began his professional career as an Intelligence Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs.

Over the weekend, businesses and critical services like banks, hospitals, telecommunications services and transportation hubs around the world were hit with a cyber attack that locked users out of their own systems using a form of ransomware known as WannaCry. The potential loss of data may lead not only to devastating financial loss, but also a much more tangible, immediate loss: patients in need of critical care are reportedly being turned away from two hospitals in the United Kingdom as access to patient records and capacity to run tests or conduct emergency medical operations were cut off. The Cipher Brief spoke with Todd Rosenblum, the Senior Executive for National Security Programs and Strategy at IBM, about what the potential impact of these attacks is, who the potential culprits could be, and why they were so successful.

The Cipher Brief: How significant are these reports of ransomware attacks simultaneously hitting organizations around the world?

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