By Riley Walters at The Heritage Foundation

As individuals and businesses alike continue to rely more on technology, cyber threats constitute a persistent threat to privacy, economy, and national security. Cybersecurity remains a complex issue: Not all cyber threats are the same, nor is there one-solution-fits-all response for them.

The incoming Administration and Congress should take cyber issues seriously by increasing support for private businesses, continuing to share threat information, and developing ways to work more closely with international partners.

Refuse to Negotiate with Ransomware

Over the past year, the cyber threat environment has seen notable shifts, at some very high financial and social costs. The threat of ransomware attacks—hackers taking control of users’ digital information and charging ransom, at the threat of having that information publicized, sold, or destroyed—has grown tremendously. In April 2016 alone, the FBI reported that 2,400 complaints of ransomware had been filed and losses to ransomware amounted to $209 million.1 Only a fraction of that—$24 million in losses—was reported in 2015.2

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