From: Lawfare
By Matthew Kahn
On Wednesday, NSA General Counsel Glenn Gerstell delivered the following remarks at the Georgetown Cybersecurity Law Institute in a speech entitled “Failing to Keep Pace: The Cyber Threat and Its Implications for Our Privacy Laws.”
Imagine walking through the front doors of your office on a Thursday morning and immediately receiving a note instructing you not to turn on your work computer for an indefinite period of time. On March 22, this very scenario played out in Atlanta’s City Hall, as employees were handed printed instructions that stated, in bold, “Until further notice, please do not log on to your computer.” At 5:40 that morning, city officials had been made aware that a particular strain of SamSam ransomware had brought municipal services in Atlanta to a halt. This type of ransomware is known for locking up its victims’ files with encryption, temporarily changing those file names to “I’m sorry,” and giving victims a week to pay a ransom.
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