OFAC September 2021 Advisory: Illusory Solutions To Soften The Enforcement Threat?

On September 21, 2021, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released an updated advisory on potential sanctions risks for facilitating ransomware payments. Historically, OFAC has identified malicious cyber threat actors under its sanctions programs and imposed sanctions on developers and purveyors of malicious cyber activity, on individuals who provide material support for malicious cyber activity, and on threat actor groups who engage in malicious cyber activities. The sanctions have been authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA). Their purpose is to disrupt funding for certain malicious cyber activities and limit activities that may be adverse to the national security and foreign policy objectives of the United States.