White House Open Letter Warns Companies of Ransomware Threat

On June 10, 2021, Cravath prepared for its clients a memo entitled “White House Open Letter Warns Companies of Ransomware Threat,“ which examined the open letter issued by the National Security Council’s top cyber official in connection with the recent spate of ransomware attacks impacting U.S. and global businesses. The open letter strongly urges companies to adopt the same set of defensive measures detailed in the President’s May 12 Executive Order focused on improving the cybersecurity of federal agencies and contractors.

The memo addresses the open letter, as well as a number of advisories published in the last year by U.S. financial regulators focused on the compliance risks associated with responding to ransomware attacks, in light of the current threat environment and the important role of advanced planning for corporations, financial institutions and other organizations to successfully defend against such attacks.

Please click here to read the memo.