In the months since President Joe Biden warned Russia's Vladimir Putin that he needed to crack down on gangs in his country, there hasn't been a massive attack like the one last May that resulted in gasoline shortages.
That is small comfort to Ken.
The president of Lewis & Clark Community College in Illinois canceled classes for days after a computer system was hit by a ransomware attack.
The first day, all of us were moving through the process, trying to get our arms around what happened.
Even if the United States isn't currently enduring large-scale, front-page ransomware attacks on par with ones earlier this year that targeted the global meat supply or kept millions of Americans from filling their gas tanks, the problem hasn't disappeared. The attack on the college was part of a series of lower-profile episodes that have upended the businesses, governments, schools and hospitals that were hit.
The Biden administration faces many challenges in trying to stamp out the threat, and its progress in doing so has been slow.
The U.S. officials have cracked down on abuses of cryptocurrencies and made some arrests. The U.S. has pushed federal, state and local governments to boost protections against cyberattacks.
It is difficult to tell if the hackers have lessened up because of the U.S. pressure. Smaller-scale attacks continue, with criminals operating from Russia. Administration officials have differing opinions on whether Russia has changed since last summer. The U.S.-Russia agenda has been complicated by the fact that the US is trying to get Putin to stop invading Ukraine.
The White House said that it was determined to fight all of the attacks, but that the government's response depends on the severity of the attack.
The statement said that there are some law enforcement matters and others that are high impact and pose a direct national security threat.
The administration declared a national security emergency after a May attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies nearly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast.
The company stopped operations after the attack, but resumed service after paying more than $4 million in ransom. An attack on meat processor JBS resulted in an $11 million ransom being paid.
In June of this year, Biden met with Putin in Switzerland and suggested that critical infrastructure sectors should be off limits for cyberattacks.
He said he expected Russia to take action against criminals when the U.S. gives them enough information.
There have been some notable attacks from groups believed to be based in Russia, including against Sinclair Broadcast Group and the National Rifle Association, but none of the impact of those from last spring or summer.
Increased U.S. government scrutiny may be one reason.
The Russia-based virtual currency exchange was sanctioned by the Biden administration in September. The Justice Department has recovered millions of dollars in ransom payments after the arrest of a suspected Ukrainian hacker in Poland. The head of the U.S. Cyber Command told The New York Times that his agency has begun offensive operations against groups that hold up computers. The White House says that the whole-of-government effort will continue.
Kevin Powers, security strategy adviser for cyber risk firm CyberSaint, said that the people who are conducting the attacks are stepping back because they are going to get the United States government to attack them.
Two people who were not authorized to speak publicly said that U.S. officials have shared a small number of names of suspected operators with Russian officials, who have said they have started investigating.
It is not clear what Russia will do with those names, though the countries have been having a useful dialogue and a working mechanism has been established.
It is difficult to measure the impact of individual arrests on the overall threat. A British tabloid reported that a man indicted by federal prosecutors was living in Russia and driving luxury cars.
Some are skeptical about the drop-off in high-profile attacks being due to U.S. efforts.
The former chief technology officer of Crowdstrike said that it could have been a mistake. Asking Russia to crack down on large-scale attacks won't work because it's way too granular of a request to calibrate criminal activity they don't even fully control
Since Biden talked to Putin, American officials have given conflicting answers. FBI and Justice Department officials say there has been no change in Russian behavior. Chris Inglis, the National Cyber Director, said that there has been a decrease in attacks but that it was too early to say why.
It is difficult to quantify the number of attacks given the lack of baseline information and the fact that the White House is trying to focus its attention on the most significant national security risks.
Hospitals, small businesses, colleges, and Virginia's legislature have all been victims of the recent attacks.
Two days before Thanksgiving, the IT director at Lewis & Clark detected suspicious activity and took the systems offline.
A note from the hackers demanded a payment, but Trzaska wouldn't reveal the amount. Many of the attacks come from Russia or Eastern Europe.
After the Thanksgiving break, administrators canceled classes for days and communicated with students via social media and a public alert system.
The college was able to resume operations this month after having backups on most of its server.
The experience inspired a college president who also had a similar experience to plan a cybersecurity panel.
When it is going to happen, the stock quote from everyone is not important.
The person reported from Virginia. Dasha Litvinova is an Associated Press writer.
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