October 31, 2023 at 12:58PM
An alliance of 40 countries will sign a pledge to stop paying ransoms to cybercriminal groups at the International Counter-Ransomware Initiative summit. The initiative aims to tackle the increasing threat of ransomware worldwide, with the U.S. being the primary target. Discussions will also focus on blocking funds used by ransomware groups. Ransomware incidents surged in September, with North America experiencing the most attacks. The initiative was first facilitated by the White House in 2021, following a spike in ransomware payments.
Key Takeaways from the Meeting Notes:
1. An alliance of 40 countries will sign a pledge during the International Counter-Ransomware Initiative summit in Washington, D.C. to stop paying ransoms demanded by cybercriminal groups.
2. The U.S. is the target of approximately 46% of global ransomware incidents.
3. The focus of the summit will be on strategies to block the funds used by ransomware groups to finance their operations.
4. The goal is to address the root cause of ransomware, which is the financing, and work together to combat it.
5. While representatives from 48 countries, the European Union, and Interpol will attend the summit, not all have confirmed that they will sign the anti-ransomware statement.
6. In September, there was a significant surge of ransomware attacks, with North America experiencing the highest number of incidents at 50%, followed by Europe at 30% and Asia at 9%.
7. Over the past two years, numerous governments have been severely affected by ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure and government entities.
8. The first Counter-Ransomware Initiative summit took place in October 2021, with 31 countries committing to disrupt ransomware groups’ abuse of cryptocurrency.
9. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) linked around $5.2 billion of outgoing Bitcoin transactions to ransomware-related payments.
These takeaways provide an overview of the current situation regarding ransomware incidents and the international effort to combat them.