Ex-FBI Leader Cynthia Kaiser on Sanctions, Ecosystem Disruption, Stronger Policies
U.S. policy now targets ransomware gangs and online fraud rings as global criminal enterprises, rather than isolated attackers. This approach will expand resources and coordination across agencies, said Cynthia Kaiser, former FBI deputy cyber director and now senior vice president of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center.
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Under a newly released policy, the White House hopes to disrupt the infrastructure, finances and leadership that enable large-scale cybercrime campaigns by also targeting money launderers, infrastructure brokers and malware developers, Kaiser said.
“To me, it’s less effective criminal activity, and by that, I mean I don’t think there’s been a criminal law that was passed and then the criminals said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do that crime anymore,'” Kaiser said. “You can make them less effective over time.”
In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Kaiser discussed:
- Why new U.S. cyber strategy treats ransomware groups as transnational crime networks;
- How targeting infrastructure, money laundering and shared services will help disrupt cybercrime ecosystems;
- The role of sanctions, international cooperation and cryptocurrency tracing in cybercrime enforcement.
Kaiser is an award-winning cyber and national security executive with more than two decades of experience leading strategy and intelligence efforts against sophisticated adversaries targeting government, critical infrastructure and the private sector. With more than 20 years of cyber and national security experience, she has served as a PDB intelligence briefer in two presidential administrations, a member of the Cyber Safety Review Board and a principal for multiple critical infrastructure security groups.