This week, the White House will welcome representatives from 13 international firms and representatives from 37 nations, including Nigeria, to discuss the rising danger posed by ransomware and other cybercrime, including the unauthorised use of cryptocurrency.
Last year, the informal Counter-Ransomware Initiative was launched online. This year, seven more countries and a number of new companies from the business world will be at the physical meeting.
In order to combat criminal ransomware threats and hold bad actors responsible, the White House believes the summit would enable participating nations to “institute a set of cyber norms that are recognized across the globe to counter criminal ransomware threats and hold malicious actors accountable,” an official said.
At the conclusion of the summit on Tuesday, participants want to release a joint statement that includes a commitment to step up pressure on Russia and other nations that host ransomware perpetrators.
How to stop such assaults, stop the smuggling of cryptocurrencies, and increase resistance to such attacks will be a major topic of debate, the source added.
The official said, “So less about Russia, more about how we as a set of countries make it harder, costlier, riskier for ransom actors to operate.”
According to the source, ransomware assaults have drastically escalated in recent years. Over 4,000 attacks have been recorded outside of the US in only the previous 18 months, he added, and efforts to apprehend the criminals have advanced.
Data of victims is encrypted using ransomware, and hackers provide the victim with a key in exchange for cryptocurrency payments that can amount to millions of dollars.
The summit will feature speeches from senior administration figures like FBI Director Chris Wray, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Along with the United States, other nations taking part are Australia, Austria, and Belgium. The following countries are part of the European Union: Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Norway. United Arab Emirates, Poland, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Britain.
Russia, Belarus, and other nations thought to be harbouring attackers won’t be taking part.
According to the White House, companies taking part include Crowdstrike, Mandiant, Microsoft, Cyber Threat Alliance, Palo Alto, Flexxon, SAP, Institute for Security + Technology, Siemens, Internet 2.0, Tata – TCS, and Telefonica.
