We’ve seen ransomware cost American lives. Here’s what it will actually take to stop it.

This op-ed by former FBI and CISA cyber leaders warns that ransomware and related cybercrime have become routine, cause severe societal and economic harm, and are accelerating due to AI. The authors call for urgent, sustained action: prioritize resilience for critical infrastructure, automate and properly resource cyber threat information sharing, clarify public–private playbooks, pursue regulatory measures (including crypto accountability) and stronger disruption options (e.g., designating key actors/enablers), and increase investment and oversight to keep defenses aligned with evolving threats.