Ransomware – Privacy Law, Sanctions, And The Pandemic

It is trite to say that no matter the sector, size, or location of an organization, cyberattacks can be devastating. As we have seen throughout 2020 and this year in Canada and elsewhere, data breaches and operational interruptions caused by these attacks, and ransomware attacks in particular, have had dire consequences on the affected organizations, their constituents, and the public.

There have been numerous high profile breaches over the past twelve months and they appear to be escalating in 2021, with the Solarwinds and Microsoft vulnerabilities offering fertile soil for cybercriminals. In a previous article, entitled "Privacy and cybersecurity during COVID-19 - Tips for Canadian organizations," we discussed how to ward against, prepare for and meet the challenges of an attack. In this article, we will describe key practical and legal considerations as they relate to ransomware attacks in the context of the current environment, including the considerations