SACRAMENTO, Calif.–The California Assembly has approved legislation that would outlaw ransomware attacks, and sent it on to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.
The measure is a response to the rapid rise in cases of hackers who block access to a user's electronic data and demand the victim pay a ransom to restore it. In California, the attacks have included several hospitals, which had to pay the ransom in order to regain control of their computer systems.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office had said earlier that existing cybercrime statutes have not always been a good fit for prosecuting ransomware cases. The new legislation allows prosecutors to charge perpetrators with extortion.