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A comment on Massachusetts Steamship Authority hit by ransomware attack; ferries delayed. Parent comment

Re:Massachusetts Steamship Authority hit by ransomware attac... by sokoloff on Wednesday June 02, 2021 @03:55PM (#27373283)
“We purchased security consulting services who were able to decrypt our ransomware-infected files. We’re not sure of the exact method they used but it worked.”
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Re:Massachusetts Steamship Authority hit by ransomware attac... by ncallaway on Wednesday June 02, 2021 @06:46PM (#27374965)
Lawmakers have dealt with this problem for a long time. It’s well solved.

If they wanted to prevent this kind of behavior there are two straightforward approaches:

- make it also illegal for the consulting company to pay a ransom.

- attach Strict Liability to any ransom payment, even if made through an intermediary. The executives quoted above from the paying company could still face criminal liability for such a payment disguised with plausible deniability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability

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