Ransomware Thrives Thanks Partly to US Market, DHS Official Says

The US cybersecurity market has created a “perverse structure” that enables companies to easily pay extortion fees when they are hit with ransomware attacks, said Kiersten Todt, the chief of staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The US represents a thriving, strong market for ransomware gangs thanks in part to the bevy of services that help hacking victims, Todt said during an interview Wednesday at the Bloomberg Technology Summit. Insurance companies that cover extortion fees, for instance, and firms that charge upwards of $100,000 to broker ransom payments, are among the actors that have contributed to the ...