Breaking the Ransomware Cycle: U.S. National Policy Options
Dr. Christopher Ford • July 19, 2021
On July 19, 2021, MITRE published a new paper by Dr. Ford and Dr. Charles Clancy on the "epidemic" of ransomware that afflicts Western countries today, and what might be done about it. You can find the paper on MITRE's website here, or download a PDF using the button below.
BREAKING THE RANSOMWARE CYCLE: U.S. NATIONAL POLICY OPTIONS
July 2021
Christopher Ford Ph.D., The MITRE Corporation
Charles Clancy Ph.D., The MITRE Corporation
Holding objects of value hostage until a ransom is paid for their release is an ancient vice, but it has acquired special salience in the digital age, as cyber criminals in this era of internet-facilitated computer network dependencies have learned to take data itself hostage in return for ransom payments.
The explosive growth of “ransomware” attacks in recent years is the result of dynamics in which the cost and risk to attackers have all but disappeared, victims’ incentives to pay promptly have increased, and the profitability of ransomware crime has duly exploded. Predictably, this has attracted steadily more predators to the “game” of digital ransom, and has produced a “feeding frenzy” of ransomware attacks, which U.S. officials have labeled a national crisis.
We will be unable to rein in the ransomware problem unless we directly address the game-theoretical incentive structures that have produced this crisis. By taking effective steps to realign these incentives—such as by incentivizing ransomware- resistant “best practices,” ending victims’ ability to pass cyber ransom costs along to insurance providers, imposing traditional “know your customer” and other associated banking regulatory practices upon cryptocurrency transactions, and taking steps to reduce cyber criminals’ ability to rely upon safe haven in jurisdictions such as Russia—we may be able to break the vicious circle in which we presently find ourselves.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the Labs Nuclear Scholars Initiative at CSIS on October 20, 2025.
In October 2025, the Next Generation Nuclear Network at the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a long recorded interview with Dr. Ford as part of its Arms Control oral history project entitled “The Negotiator Files.” You can find Dr. Ford's interview here .
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at an event at Hudson Institute on October 2, 2025, on the U.S. Institute of Peace Senior Study Group on Strategic Stability’s recent report on “ Sustaining the Nuclear Peace .”
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at a briefing for Congressional staffers on September 30, 2025, organized by the University of Pennsylvania’s Washington Cente r and the Wilson Center .
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the “arms control boot camp” program for young national security professionals organized by the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 2025.
Below are the remarks upon which Dr. Ford based his opening remarks in a webinar on September 23, 2025, sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP).
Below are the remarks Dr. Ford delivered on September 22, 2025, at a conference in Singapore sponsored by the Pacific Forum.
Dr. Ford's essay on the history of Missouri State University's School of Defense and Strategic Studies was published in Defense & Strategic Studies Online (DASSO), vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 2025). You can find the whole issue on the DASSO website here , or use the button below to download a PDF of Dr. Ford's piece . (Also, the home page for DASSO can be found here .)
On September 17, 2025, the website Fair Observer published Dr. Ford's essay looking back on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and musing about the challenges facing America's political culture today. You can find the essay on Fair Observer 's webpage here , or use the button below to download a PDF.
Dr. Ford's article on "Thinking About Strategy in an Artificial Superintelligence Arms Race" -- co-authored with Dr. Craig Wiener -- was published in Defense & Strategic Studies Online (DASSO), vol. 1, no. 4 (Summer 2025). You can find the whole issue on the DASSO website here , or use the button below to download a PDF of the Ford/Wiener article. (Also, the home page for DASSO can be found here .)