Security News > 2023 > October > US officials close to persuading allies to not pay off ransomware crooks

Top White House officials are working to secure an agreement between almost 50 countries to not pay ransom demands to cybercriminals as the international Counter Ransomware Initiative summit gets underway in Washington DC Tuesday.

Second, member governments will also increase their information-sharing capabilities via two dedicated platforms that let countries rapidly exchange threat indicators following ransomware infections.

Member countries will also "Pledge to assist any Counter Ransomware Initiative member with incident response if their government or lifeline sectors are hit with a ransomware attack," she added.

Another FBI-led effort shut down Hive's ransomware network, while also distributing 1,000 decryption keys to victims.

A third joint operation between CRI countries dismantled Qakbot, aka QBot, a notorious botnet and malware loader responsible for ransomware losses totaling hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

Finally, if the CRI countries do agree on a ransom-payment ban for member governments, then "Governments and the private sector must work together to ensure victim organizations aren't completely left to fend for themselves when trying to get operations back online after a ransomware incident," Carmakal said.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/10/31/us_ransomware_payment_ban/