New York wants legislation to ban government agencies from paying to ransomware

Recently New York State Senators proposed two new bills, S7246 and S7289 because more and more government agencies have become victims of ransomware attacks, so the bill It was proposed that the government would be barred from using taxpayer funds to pay ransom to the ransomware.

It is understood that State Senators, Phil Boyle, David Carlucci, and Sue Serino introduced S7246 and S7289 bill on the 14th and 16th of this month in response to a wave of cyberattacks targeting government agencies and municipalities across the country. To accommodate the expected remediation costs, the bill proposes the establishment of a “The Cyber Security Enhancement Fund”, which will be dedicated to cities with a population of less than one million to improve their security. If the bill is passed, then depending on the requirements of the current network environment, some government departments are expected to receive $5 million in funding as part of rebuilding the IT infrastructure of small towns.

At present, both bills are in their early stages and have not yet entered the Senate debate. But if the bill is passed, it will restrict government agencies from paying the ransom to hackers in the event of a cyberattack, which could also make New York the first state to legislate on such incidents.

In response, the FBI has maintained its position that accepting requests from ransomware attackers will only encourage more crime. Moreover, those who pay do not actually guarantee that they will be able to recover their data.

Via: ZDNet