Alliance of 40 countries vows not to pay ransom to cyber criminals
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Dec 2023
An alliance of forty countries led by the US has pledged never to pay ransom to cyber criminals and to work toward eliminating the hackers’ funding mechanism.
The alliance International Counter Ransomware Initiative has come up as the number of ransomware attacks grows worldwide. The US is by far the worst hit, with 46% of such attacks.
A report by Reuters said the move is aimed at eliminating one of the biggest funding mechanisms for hackers. There has been a significant uptick in ransomware attacks around the world in 2023 as cyber criminals continue to extort large sums of money from both government and private organisations as ransom.
US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said, “As long as there is money flowing to ransomware criminals, this is a problem that will continue to grow.”
Ms Neuberger said the new initiatives to be taken up by the alliance aim to eliminate the criminals’ funding through better information sharing about ransom payment accounts. She said two information-sharing platforms will be created, one by Lithuania and another jointly by Israel and the UAE. A