Page 6 - Cyberattacks and Cyberscams: Is There an End in Sight?

A Russian hacker, wanted
by the FBI for his role in a
ransomware attack that
disabled tens of thousands
of computers worldwide in
early July 2021, is shown
on a screen during a press
conference held by the
Justice Department.

of cyberscams, a 69 percent increase from 2019. Ransomware
attacks have also ballooned. Victims paid nearly $350 million in
2020, over three times as much as in 2019, according to crypto-
currency analytics fi rm Chainalysis. Criminals carry out scams and
ransomware attacks for profi t. Nation-states launch cyberattacks
both for espionage and for sabotage. According to the Council on
Foreign Relations, there were seventy-six state-sponsored cyber-
attacks in 2019, mostly espionage related.
Cyberaggressions by scammers, criminals, and nation-states
have direct and spillover effects. Although many scams result in
small fi nancial losses, some devastate individuals fi nancially and
emotionally. Ransomware and nation-state attacks have crip-
pled businesses, institutions, and governments. They have also
harmed economies and could threaten national security. As the
technological sophistication of nation-states grows, so do the
risks of bad outcomes. Speaking to the Offi ce of the Director of
National Intelligence, President Joe Biden said, “I think it’s more
likely . . . if we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major
power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of
great consequence.” Cybertechnology has supercharged tradi-
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tional crimes and international aggressions. It has also enabled
new kinds of scams, extortion, and nation-state attacks.

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