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Why The U.S. Can’t Stop Cyber Attacks

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U.S. recently faced a series of ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure like the Colonial Pipeline, the city of Tulsa, and JBS, the worlds largest meat producer. Ransomware, a program that hackers use to hold digital information hostage, has become the top choice of malware for criminals. In 2020, the total amount of ransom paid by the victims reached nearly $350 million worth of cryptocurrency, most of them in bitcoin. So what led to the rise of ransomware in the U.S. and what makes it so difficult to fight?

The May 7 ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline “is probably the most significant ransomware attack on one of our critical infrastructures ever,” said Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. And shortly after the pipeline was hit, the U.S. faced more ransomware attacks — targeting cities, ferries and even a meat plant.

“Although ransomware has really been around since 2013, it has not yet been seriously taken in terms of something that could impact critical infrastructure,” said Vanessa Pegueros, chief trust and security officer at OneLogin.

Ransomware, a program that hackers use to hold digital information hostage, has become the top choice of malware for criminals in recent years. In 2020, the total amount of ransom paid by victims reached nearly $350 million worth of cryptocurrency, a 311% increase compared with the previous year, according to Chainalysis.

“Over the last two years, it’s well into the millions, hundreds of millions of dollars from victims that we’ve come across,” said Marc Bleicher, managing director at Arete Incident Response.

Ransomware has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. A majority of the ransom paid is shared among a relatively small number of highly organized groups of criminals with names such as Evil Corp. or DarkSide. According to Chainalysis, 199 deposit addresses received 80% of all ransoms paid in 2020, while an even smaller group, 25 addresses, accounted for nearly half.

These groups have become increasingly bold, showing off bundles of cash and fancy sports cars. That’s because tracking, arresting and bringing these hackers to justice is often incredibly difficult.

“A lot of these organizations are allowed to essentially operate freely within Russia or other former Soviet states as long as they don’t hit anybody within that country,” Bleicher said. “So unless there’s a cooperation at the political level there, I don’t see this going away anytime soon.”

The Colonial Pipeline incident sent shockwaves across the oil industry and the U.S. government, alerting them to the severity of cybersecurity concerns.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity defenses, while House lawmakers rolled out a bill to invest $500 million in state and local cybersecurity in May.

But there remains a lot more work to be done, especially when it comes to critical infrastructure. Roughly 85% of America’s critical infrastructure is privately owned, and the private sector is not required to follow the strict cybersecurity guidelines set by the government.

“We’ve got electric grids in this country, we have water systems, we have pipelines. We have a lot of critical infrastructure that is really open to some of these ransomware attacks and cyberattacks,” said Katko. “And we need to do a much better job than that.”

When it comes to the future of ransomware attacks, experts agree: It is far from over.

“The amount of impact it’s going to continue to have will grow, and I think the amount of money to be made will continue to grow,” Pegueros said. “I don’t know where that will peak out, and I don’t know if it’s just going to morph into something even more dangerous and scary. It’s hard to say. But I don’t think we’re at the peak yet.”

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How Cryptocurrency Is Driving The Ransomware Boom in The U.S.

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How SpaceX’s IPO Is Testing Retail Investors

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SpaceX is expected to go public at one of the richest IPO valuations in market history, with retail investors set to receive unusual access through platforms like Robinhood and Charles Schwab. CNBC spoke with five retail traders and investors about why they requested SpaceX IPO shares despite concerns over valuation, volatility, Elon Musk, Starlink, AI infrastructure, launch services and whether public-market buyers could become exit liquidity for early investors.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:36 Why this valuation is hard to judge
4:13 The short-term traders
6:55 The long-term believers

Produced by: Charlotte Morabito
Reporting by: Sean Conlon, Yun Li
Edited by: Andrea Miller, Macklin Fishman
Animation: Jason Reginato, Emily Park
Senior Managing Producer: Shawn Baldin
Additional Footage: Getty Images

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Why Retail Investors Are Betting On SpaceX’s Massive IPO

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Big Challenges Ahead For Meta AI Chief Alexandr Wang After A Rocky First Year

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A year after Meta’s $14.3 billion bet on Alexandr Wang, the company finally has its first proprietary AI model, but remains behind OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. High-profile hires from rival labs made headlines, but so did layoffs, key departures, and a year of widespread internal conflict and low morale. With Meta’s stock down 19%, the pressure is now on Wang and Zuckerberg to prove the bet was worth it. CNBC’s Julia Boorstin explores what Meta is up against as it attempts to generate real revenue beyond ads.

Reporter: Julia Boorstin
Produced by: Stephen Desaulniers
Edited by: Andrew Evers
Animations: Jason Reginato
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Meta

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Big Challenges Ahead For Meta AI Chief Alexandr Wang After A Rocky First Year

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What To Expect From Trump’s Trip To The G7 Summit In France

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President Trump is set to travel to France for the upcoming G7 summit, which will take place from June 15-17. Markets will be watching for signs of stability as the summit takes place against the backdrop of the Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions between the U.S. and Europe over tariffs. CNBC’s Megan Cassella breaks down what to expect from the summit.

Reporter: Megan Cassella
Produced by: Macklin Fishman, Ashlee Trujillo
Edited by: Andrea Miller
Senior Managing Producer: Shawn Baldwin
Additional Footage: Getty Images

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What To Expect From Trump’s Trip To The G7 Summit In France

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SpaceX IPO: Here’s What Retail Investors Need To Know

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Retail brokerages are lining up to offer SpaceX shares to retail investors who are salivating to buy day one of trade. However, any investor who is thinking of flipping the stock and making a quick buck may want to think twice. Fidelity and Charles Schwab have implemented anti-flipping policies ahead of the historic IPO. CNBC’s Seema Mody analyzed other high-profile IPOs, and explains what is unique about SpaceX, to find out what to expect.

Reporter: Seema Mody
Produced by: Drew Troast
Edited by: Erin Black
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt

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SpaceX IPO: Here’s What Retail Investors Need To Know

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Why Ford Is Making A $5 Billion Bet On EVs

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Despite a massive slowdown in EV adoption, Ford Motor is continuing to move forward with its next generation of EVs. Ford’s continued confidence, albeit at lower and slower rate than it previously projected, comes from its “Universal Electric Vehicle,” or UEV platform, which the company has developed from a clean-sheet design. Ford’s goal for UEV is to be profitable and cost-competitive with global EV leaders from China and Tesla. The UEV is expected to be critical to Ford transforming its Model e EV unit from billions of dollars in annual losses to breakeven by 2029. The company has said its future EVs will be profitable within a year of launching. The first planned product based on the UEV is a roughly $30,000 midsize pickup truck for the U.S. market next year, followed by a family of vehicles underpinned by the platform.

Produced by: Juhohn Lee
Reporting by: Michael Wayland
Camera by: Andrew Evers
Edited by: Natalie Rice
Senior Director of Video: Lindsey Jacobson
Additional Footage: Ford

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Ford’s $5 Billion Bet On Winning The EV War

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