According to the Journal, the Treasury Department plans to impose these new sanctions as soon as next week. The department will also issue new guidance for businesses regarding the risks they take on by complying with ransomware payment requests. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Verge. These proposed measures would be the Biden administration’s most significant move to address the wave of ransomware attacks that have only grown in scale and frequency over the last year. The Biden administration is expected to issue new anti-money laundering and terror finance rules later this year to restrict the use of cryptocurrency for payments in ransomware attacks.

Source: The Nation September 17, 2021 19:18 UTC