Sure, many things are a 'big deal' in some parts of the world - malaria, corrupt governments, famine, domestic violence, ebola, contaminated drinking water, etc etc.

Why did I presume he meant data sharing 'piracy'? Well he didn't choose to mention organised crime, of which naval piracy is a small part. It would probably be a more relevant target for sigint than e.g. Somalis in speedboats, and also more relevant to US security.

The author is, imo, casting around for buzzwords/bogeymen, and he thought data sharing 'piracy' hit the right buttons.

Because you don't need a strong cipher to send text messages like "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum."

Presumably pirates favor arrrr-C4 or arrrr-SA (both of them invented by Ronald Rivest.)