US lawmakers have proposed a bill which if enacted will force US-based companies to report ransomware payments within 48 hours.

The Ransom Disclosure Act seeks to provide the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with greater insights about how the criminal gangs behind ransomware operate.

The bill was proposed by US senator and 2020 presidential election democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren and congresswoman Deborah Ross.

In addition, the new bill is aimed at supporting a Secretary of Homeland Security study to find links between cryptocurrencies and their role in ransomware attacks.

If the proposal is passed, all firms “engaged in interstate commerce” which pay ransoms will be obligated to provide the DHS with the size of the total ransom payment, the currency, and any information they might have about the attackers.

Companies will only be expected to pay if they make ransomware payments, those who don’t won’t be obliged to communicate with the DHS.

The total value of ransomware payments – which are generally made via cryptocurrencies - was over $400 million in 2020, four times that of 2019 according to US treasury statistics from September.

Ransomware attacks have increased by 64 per cent globally in the past year, according to August research from digital security company Barracuda Network.

The US has been subject to many very damaging attacks during 2021; the May attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which supplied gas to much of the Southern United States left Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina with fuel shortages.

"Ransomware attacks are skyrocketing, yet we lack critical data to go after cyber criminals," said Warren. "My bill with Congresswoman Ross would set disclosure requirements when ransoms are paid and allow us to learn how much money cyber criminals are siphoning from American entities to finance criminal enterprises – and help us go after them."

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