FBI Director Compares Ransomware Challenge to 9/11
Summary from the AllSides News Team
In a Thursday interview with The Wall Street Journal, FBI Director Christopher Wray compared the recent wave of ransomware cyberattacks to the challenge posed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “The scale of this problem is one that I think the country has to come to terms with,” Wray said. The same day, Reuters reported that the Department of Justice would treat ransomware attacks with the same priority as terrorism, directing U.S. attorney’s offices to coordinate with a recently created task force in Washington, D.C. Additionally, the White House released an open letter urging businesses to take security measures against ransomware attacks.
Coverage was generally balanced across the spectrum and split between Wray’s comments, the Reuters report and the White House letter.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Wray sees 'parallels' between challenge posed by ransomware attacks and 9/11
FBI Director Christopher Wray likened the challenge posed by the recent spate of damaging ransomware attacks on the US to the September 11 terrorist attacks in a new interview and called for a similar sense of urgency and response.
"There are a lot of parallels, there's a lot of importance, and a lot of focus by us on disruption and prevention," Mr. Wray said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. "There's a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies but across the private sector and even the average...
From the Left
DOJ to treat ransomware attacks with similar priority as terrorism 
The Department of Justice is planning to coordinate its ransomware attack investigations with similar protocols it uses for terrorism cases, according to internal guidance sent to U.S. attorney’s offices reviewed by Reuters.
Why it matters: The new guidance comes in the wake of at least two significant ransomware attacks against major U.S. businesses in roughly a month and as the Biden administration attempts to devise ways to thwart future attacks.
Context: In May, a criminal group breached the Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined products pipeline network in the country.
The attack forced the...
From the Right
‘There are a lot of parallels’: FBI Director Wray compares ransomware threat to 9/11
The FBI is investigating about 100 different types of ransomware, Director Christopher Wray revealed in a new interview, in which he compared the security challenges posed by cyberthreats to the terror threat of 9/11.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday, the FBI director made the comments in the wake of two recent ransomware attacks that sent meat and gas prices skyrocketing as suppliers were left unable to move their products.
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