Cybersecurity Pros Question White House Adviser's Reliance on Ransomware Gang's Promise to Not Attack Critical Infrastructure
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To the dismay of many cybersecurity professionals, White House deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger said that a pledge during an interview with Recorded Future made by a representative of the ransomware group BlackMatter could amount to a bona fide commitment by the group. Experts link BlackMatter to the Colonial Pipeline attack and indeed think it could be the successor to the Darkside gang responsible for that attack.
Based on extensive experience, most cybersecurity professionals believe that, in the words of Emisoft analyst Brett Callow, “there’s absolutely no reason untrustworthy bad faith actors will stick to their word or that they can even necessarily control their affiliates. The fact that a single group has said it will avoid attacks on critical infrastructure is neither a good sign nor a bad one. It's a meaningless nothing-burger."
Or in the words of Allan Liska, a threat researcher with Recorded Future, "ransomware groups are known to be lying bastards." (Zachary…
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