The U.S is leading a forty country alliance to sign an agreement to stop payment of ransom to cybercriminals as a means of eliminating hackers’ funding mechanisms in their various governments.
The move, called the International Counter Ransomware Initiative, comes as the number of ransomware attacks increases globally with millions of dollars paid as ransom to hackers.
Hackers encrypt an organization’s systems and demand ransom payments in exchange for unlocking them and in most cases still steal sensitive data, use it to extort victims and leak it online if the payments are not made.
Senior White House official, and U.S. deputy national security adviser in the Biden administration for cyber and emerging technologies, Anne Neuberger, had explained during an interview that the United States is by far the worst hit with 46% of such attacks.
Hundreds of companies including casino operator MGM Resorts International and cleaning products maker, Clorox, have fallen victim in high-profile attacks in the US with some yet to fully recover from the disruptions.
According to her, the new initiatives are to eliminate the criminals’ funding through better information sharing about ransom payment accounts, noting that as long as there is money flowing to ransomware criminals, cybercrime will continue to grow.
Neuberger noted that two information-sharing platforms will be created, one by Lithuania and another jointly by Israel and the UAE adding that the effort will use artificial intelligence to analyze blockchain with a view to identifying illicit funds.