Increasingly, companies may find themselves at the mercy of
cyber-pirates and other hackers who, through improper means, seize
control of information technology systems in an effort to extort
ransom payments from victims, in exchange for decrypting the
information and restoring system access, refraining from
disseminating confidential information, or both. The COVID-19
pandemic has led to increased risk in this regard, including a significant increase in the incidence of
cyberattacks. In these situations, companies are placed in a
challenging situation as they navigate business, privacy and
confidentiality concerns as well as established law and
regulations.
On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a
pair of advisory statements to assist American individuals and
businesses in responding to ransomware payment demands following a
cyberattack. Specifically, both the Office of Foreign Assets Control [PDF]
(“OFAC”) and the Financial Crimes
