The Rise of Ransomware as a National Security Threat w/ Max Smeets

Join Max Smeets, author of Ransom War, as he discusses the rise of ransomware with James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency.

In 2022, a series of devastating ransomware attacks prompted Costa Rica’s president to declare a national emergency, describing his country as being in a ‘state of war’. This episode followed several high-profile ransomware attacks against US critical national infrastructure in 2021, which served to push ransomware up the White House’s agenda. Today, it is generally agreed that ransomware is a national security threat. However, questions remain about the effective use of statecraft to combat the threat. Ransomware criminal networks are amorphous and adaptable and have proven resilient in the face of efforts by law enforcement and cyber commands to disrupt them.

In a timely new book, Max Smeets explores the rise of ransomware as a national security threat. Ransom War: How Cyber Crime Became a Threat to National Security reveals how the challenge of ransomware has evolved, how it differs in substance and style from traditional cyber threats, and how to combat it.

About the author

Max Smeets DPhil is a leading expert in cyber conflict and security, who has written on cyber strategy for The Washington Post, War on the Rocks, Slate and others. He holds research positions at ETH Zurich, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Max is the author of No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber Force (also published by Hurst), and the co-editor of Deter, Disrupt, or Deceive and Cyberspace and Instability. He also co-directs Virtual Routes, and serves as Managing Editor of Binding Hook.