On Tuesday, California legislators took a major leap toward prohibiting the use of "ransomware" to hack computers for money, passing a bill through the government's first committee with the support of law enforcement.
Under a statute similar to extortion, but targeted specifically to cybercrime, the legislation would prosecute hackers who are utilizing ransomware. Senate Bill 1137 moves next to the appropriations committee. It should be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown and approved by the houses of the California legislature for it to become a law.
According to Bloomberg, ransomware is a type of malicious software that can encrypt date on the victim's network, making it inaccessible without the purchase of an electronic code that is known and offered only to the malware's creator. There have been more reports of ransomware attacks, particularly in hospitals.
In February, ransomware made its first headlines when a Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles lost access to its electronic health record system for several days due to a malware infection. After paying $17,000 to the hackers, the hospital then regained control of its clinical date. Healthcare Dive reported that the FBI is currently investigating the incident.
Three more hospitals have been attacked by ransomware in March, says Reuters. The disruption caused by the malicious software can vary greatly. Ransomware can lock clinicians out of the hospital EHR's and disrupt the facilities network service. The three hospitals have reported losing control of at least part of their IT network.
These attacks have led the Federal Trade Commission to call for more robust laws and policies to protect computers against ransomware attacks and increase awareness when attacks occur. According to FBI statistics, more than $200 million in ransomware payments were already made in the US alone during the first three months of 2016.
Security experts said that such attacks have been around longer than a decade and have become more prevalent and threatening in recent years. State Senator Bob Hertzberg, the sponsor of the measure, said it had been met with little opposition so far and everyone is making sure that the hackers will be punished.
