SURGING RESOURCES

Gen. Paul Nakasone, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency (NSA), is working to “surge” efforts to respond to the mounting ransomware attacks on critical U.S. organizations.

“Even six months ago, we probably would have said, ‘Ransomware, that’s criminal activity,’ ” Nakasone said as part of an interview with The Associated Press (AP) published Tuesday. “But if it has an impact on a nation, like we’ve seen, then it becomes a national security issue. If it’s a national security issue, then certainly we’re going to surge toward it.”

Nakasone told the AP that there was “an intense focus” on the part of government specialists to tackle cybersecurity threats and to “impose costs when necessary,” including through publicly calling out countries behind major cyberattacks.