Not just the money: Ransomware a growing political threat to U.S. interests

The rising frequency of ransomware attacks against private companies involved in banking, gasoline supplies, beef production and other crucial business may feel like an overhyped national security threat, but a growing number of experts are warning that the attacks represent a cyberwar trend that U.S. adversaries are poised to exploit not for money but for serious geopolitical gain. Analysts predict that as the scope and sophistication of the incidents grow in the coming months and years, states such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are likely to accelerate the use of ransomware to exact foreign policy concessions either directly from Washington or from U.S. allies around the world…(Excerpts from the  Washington Times)