Cyberthreat to US Unprecedented, ‘Will Get Much Worse’, FBI Chief Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday warned that the current spate of cyberattacks on the United States is already unprecedented and will get much worse.

He added that the FBI probes a hundred different ransomware variants with each having “dozens, if not hundreds of victims.”

He accused Russia of pursuing a state-sponsored cybercampaign against the US and refused to discuss in an open setting “the degree of nexus” between the Russian government and cybercriminals allegedly operating from the country, including Darkside, a group blamed for a ransomware attack that briefly shut down a key American fuel pipeline.

Wray claimed that “perhaps not coincidentally” Darkside specifically targets English-speaking victims.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday that ransomware cyberattacks are incomparable to 9/11 events clarifying his previous public statements.

Earlier this month, Wray told the Wall Street Journal the FBI investigates about 100 different types of ransomware, many tracing back to hackers allegedly based in Russia, and compared them to the challenge posed by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Most high-profile attacks targeted Colonial Pipeline and meat-producing giant JBS, forcing both US companies to briefly suspend operations and transferred millions of dollars to hackers in exchange for encryption keys. Wray reiterated that the FBI policy and guidance remains not to pay ransoms.

Sourse: sputniknews.com