Ex-SEC internet enforcement chief says crypto investors are ‘enabling’ ransomware attacks

Ex-SEC internet enforcement chief says crypto investors are ‘enabling’ ransomware attacks

Investors in and other digital currencies are empowering online hackers, the founder of the SEC's internet enforcement office warned on CNBC on Thursday. "Ransomware is hitting everywhere and they're all collecting it in bitcoin because there's no way they're going to get caught. So you're also enabling it," John Reed Stark, now , said on Stark said cryptocurrencies have little to no practical use, likening trading in them to the speculation that recently carried and other meme stocks to incredible heights. Cryptocurrencies also lack registration and other requirements that bring more transparency to U.S. capital markets, he added. "At least with and AMC you're not necessarily hurting anyone. ... But with crypto, you are really hurting a lot of people, and that sort of risk I don't think is a good one for society," Stark said, calling crypto the "essence of ransomware," a type of malicious software that can disrupt and even block computer networks. In the latest of a string of cyberattacks, Brazil's JBS, the world's largest meatpacker,  after a weekend ransomware attack. JBS blames hackers with ties to Russia. Last month, Colonial Pipeline, the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, paid ransomware demands after its operations were closed for