Two Major Government Reports on Internet Crime and Ransomware

Two major government reports were released this March on the issues of internet crime and ransomware.  

First, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet and Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its 2021 report on a wide range of suspected internet crimes. The annual report notes a 7% increase in the number of complaints from 2020 and that victims’ reported losses exceeded $6.9 billion. The top three reported cybercrimes for 2021 were “phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams and personal data breaches.” The FBI also provided an accompanying 2021 States Reports that is available here. 

You can read the FBI's report here or below.

Second, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released a staff report on ransomware, titled “America’s Data Held Hostage: Case Studies in Ransomware Attacks on American Companies.” The report provides a comprehensive background on the ransomware ecosystem, including a summary of notable ransomware attacks and major arrests. The report then “details [three particular] attacks by Russia-based ransomware group REvil on three American companies, and the experiences of those companies during the incident response.” The report’s executive summary also calls for cyber incident reporting legislation, citing how the “two victim companies reported little help from the Federal Government.”  

You can read the Senate staff report here or below.