Forty nations pledge not to pay cybercriminals

Comes in the face of rising levels of ransomware

Dev Kundaliya

02 November 2023

A coalition of 40 countries, led by the USA, has pledged to never pay cybercriminal ransoms and to collectively work toward disrupting their financial systems.

The countries made the agreement at a summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, where they finalised a set of policies intended to cripple the ransomware payments market.

The International Counter Ransomware Initiative's key components include sharing data on ransomware perpetrators and techniques, and establishing a "blacklist" of information about digital wallets used to facilitate ransomware payments.

The US Department of the Treasury will share the blacklist.

The initiative also aims for swift action to shut down threats stemming from inside an ally's borders.

The goal of these measures is to reduce member governments' vulnerability as potential targets, by eliminating the economic incentive for ransomware attacks.

A formal release says the alliance will use AI to examine blockchain data, in order to identify and track illicit funds used in ransomware schemes. In this manner the participating countries intend to enhance their ability to trace the flow of funds within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, ultimately making it more challenging for cybercriminals to benefit from their activities.

Two information-sharing platforms will be established as part of the initiative: one led by Lithuania and the other jointly managed by Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Most nations represented at the summit endorsed the initiative, but eight chose not to participate in this commitment, according to Reuters.

Forty-eight countries, along with the European Union and Interpol, are members of the CRI. However, countries with the most notorious ransomware records - Russia, China, Iran and North Korea - are not members. These countries are known for supporting ransomware attacks at the state level and providing safe havens for independent hacker groups.

The pledge comes in the face of an escalating ransomware threat, with numerous organisations and governments falling victim to these disruptive attacks.

Anne Neuberger, the US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies in the Biden administration, told reporters this week that the USA has experienced the highest impact, with 46% of all ransomware attacks launched against US targets.

"As long as there is money flowing to ransomware criminals, this is a problem that will continue to grow," she said.

Last week, ransomware group LockBit announced its intrusion of the aerospace giant Boeing, claiming to have stolen a substantial amount of the sensitive data from the company's systems.

The group threatened to release the data if Boeing does not comply with their demands by a 2nd November deadline. The hackers have not yet publicly disclosed the exact ransom they are demanding from Boeing.