Security Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Security Magazine logo
  • NEWS
    • Security Newswire
    • Technologies & Solutions
  • MANAGEMENT
    • Leadership Management
    • Enterprise Services
    • Security Education & Training
    • Logical Security
    • Security & Business Resilience
    • Profiles in Excellence
  • PHYSICAL
    • Access Management
    • Fire & Life Safety
    • Identity Management
    • Physical Security
    • Video Surveillance
    • Case Studies (Physical)
  • CYBER
    • Cybersecurity News
    • More
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
    • Cyber Tactics
    • Leadership & Management
    • Security Talk
    • Career Intelligence
    • Leader to Leader
    • Cybersecurity Education & Training
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Annual Guarding Report
    • Most Influential People in Security
    • The Security Benchmark Report
    • The Security Leadership Issue
    • Top Guard and Security Officer Companies
    • Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    • Women in Security
  • SECTORS
    • Arenas / Stadiums / Leagues / Entertainment
    • Banking/Finance/Insurance
    • Construction, Real Estate, Property Management
    • Education: K-12
    • Education: University
    • Government: Federal, State and Local
    • Hospitality & Casinos
    • Hospitals & Medical Centers
    • Infrastructure:Electric,Gas & Water
    • Ports: Sea, Land, & Air
    • Retail/Restaurants/Convenience
    • Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain/Distribution/ Warehousing
  • EVENTS
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Solutions by Sector
    • Security 500 Conference
  • MEDIA
    • Videos
      • Cybersecurity & Geopolitical Discussion
      • Ask Me Anything (AMA) Series
    • Podcasts
    • Polls
    • Photo Galleries
  • MORE
    • Call for Entries
    • Classifieds & Job Listings
    • Continuing Education
    • Newsletter
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • This Month's Content
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CybersecurityManagementSecurity NewswireCybersecurity News

New ransomware task force seeks to disrupt ransom payments

ransomware cyber
April 30, 2021

More than 60 experts from industry, government, law enforcement, civil society and international organizations have worked together to develop a comprehensive framework, breaking down siloed approaches and advocated for a unified, aggressive, comprehensive, public-private anti-ransomware campaign. 

The 81-page report, "A Comprehensive Framework for Action: Key Recommendations from the Ransomware Task Force," includes 48 recommendations that together form a comprehensive framework to address ransomware. The report was delivered to the Biden administration this week. Among those, these priority recommendations are the most foundational and urgent, and many of the other recommendations were developed to facilitate or strengthen these core actions.

  1. Coordinated, international diplomatic and law enforcement efforts must proactively prioritize ransomware through a comprehensive, resourced strategy, including using a carrot-and-stick approach to direct nation-states away from providing safe havens to ransomware criminals.
  2. The United States should lead by example and execute a sustained, aggressive, whole of government, intelligence-driven anti-ransomware campaign, coordinated by the White House. This must include the establishment of 1) an Interagency Working Group led by the National Security Council in coordination with the nascent National Cyber Director; 2) an internal U.S. Government Joint Ransomware Task Force; and 3) a collaborative, private industry-led informal Ransomware Threat Focus Hub.
  3. Governments should establish Cyber Response and Recovery Funds to support ransomware response and other cybersecurity activities; mandate that organizations report ransom payments; and require organizations to consider alternatives before making payments.
  4. An internationally coordinated effort should develop a clear, accessible, and broadly adopted framework to help organizations prepare for, and respond to, ransomware attacks. In some under-resourced and more critical sectors, incentives (such as fine relief and funding) or regulation may be required to drive adoption.
  5. The cryptocurrency sector that enables ransomware crime should be more closely regulated. Governments should require cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto kiosks, and over-the-counter (OTC) trading “desks” to comply with existing laws, including Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Combatting Financing of Terrorism (CFT) laws.

The strategic framework aims to help policymakers and industry leaders take system-level action — through potential legislation, funding new programs, or launching new industry-level collaborations — that will help the international community build resistance, disrupt the ransomware business model, and develop resilience to the ransomware threat.

The framework is organized around four goals: deter ransomware attacks through a nationally and internationally coordinated, comprehensive strategy; disrupt the ransomware business model and reduce criminal profits; help organizations prepare for ransomware attacks; and respond to ransomware attacks more effectively. "These goals are interlocking and mutually reinforcing. For example, actions to disrupt the ransomware payments system will decrease the profitability of ransomware, thereby helping to deter other actors from engaging in this crime. Thus, this framework should be considered as a whole, not merely a laundry list of disparate actions," the report says. 

Here's what security experts had to say about this initiative. 

 

Anthony Pillitiere, Co-Founder and CTO at Horizon3.AI:

This hits at the heart of the matter in cybersecurity...the economics of an attack. While I believe this is a great step, it's a bit late in the game. Criminals are already seeing that the "don't pay" message is starting to stick, as only 27% of victims are paying. As the money dries up, a new tactic of "breach-as-a-service" is growing in popularity. Criminals are taking a lesson from the gold rush - once the peak is hit, you can generate a longer term revenue stream from selling pickaxes to the laggards. The 2021 DBIR analysis shows that credential and brute force attacks are the source of 80% of breaches. Organizations need to focus on the fundamentals of security, which includes good IDAM hygiene, continuous assessment, and the adoption of a purple culture - using offensive actions to inform defensive actions and focus efforts on the issues most likely to impact business first.

 

Tyler Shields, CMO at JupiterOne:

Targeting the financial side of the equation will help quite a bit. That model is really focused on what happens after the breach and once the target has been compromised. While there is a lot of value in frustrating criminals with money tracing and tracking and locking down the funds, a prevention strategy must also be employed. Making sure that potential targets of ransomware have visibility into their cyber universe - what exists, where it exists, and if it's properly secured goes a long way to making ransomware attacks more difficult. At the end of the day, nothing will completely stop these attacks and we can primarily hope to raise the bar of difficulty to an unmanageable level.

 

Douglas Murray, CEO at Valtix:

The threat landscape is an ever evolving and critical matter for both the public and private sector.  This is challenging because it requires cooperation across multiple companies in the private sector […many of which compete with each other], as well as various governments, to come together to solve. While incredibly complex, we have to get this right and in real-time as newer ransomware is detected anywhere around the globe. We need to protect our infrastructure, while upsetting the bad actors business model . This threat feed can be ingested by security services to allow government and enterprises to appropriately respond to these attacks. Urgency here is critical.

 

Dirk Schrader, Global Vice President, Security Research at New Net Technologies (NNT):

It is time to have such an initiative in place. It was surely propelled by the recent developments with Emotet (which was used to drop various ransomware strains) and the takedown of web-shells, that the initiators of the task force do think they can make that move. It will be more a question of convincing lawmakers across the globe to actually join that coalition, to work out or improve their own country’s legal frameworks, so that ransomware gangs can effectively be prosecuted or at least the market structure is changed so much that they get frustrated and leave that business. That is by all means not a sprint. It will be interesting to see whether they can get a large number of nations to join that coalition. There is also a good chance that crypto-currencies will label this initiative as a bait to get regulations for their markets in place. The idea to ‘create a Ransomware Response Fund to support victims in refusing to make ransomware payments’ is astonishing at first sight. By instinct one would ask why, as the victim wasn’t able to secure their systems and network properly so they got caught. But that would reject the notion that there is no such thing as 100% security.

 

KEYWORDS: cyber security data breach ransomware risk management

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
To unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security magazine's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024 award...
    Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    By: Security Staff
  • cyber brain

    The intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable cybersecurity...
    Columns
    By: Pam Nigro
  • artificial intelligence AI graphic

    Assessing the pros and cons of AI for cybersecurity

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant implications...
    Technologies & Solutions
    By: Charles Denyer
Subscribe For Free!
  • Security eNewsletter & Other eNews Alerts
  • eMagazine Subscriptions
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Online Registration
  • Mobile App
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Security audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Security or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Crisis Response Team
    Sponsored byEverbridge

    Automate or Fall Behind – Crisis Response at the Speed of Risk

  • Perimeter security
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Why Property Security is the New Competitive Advantage

  • Duty of Care
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Integrating Technology and Physical Security to Advance Duty of Care

Popular Stories

Pills spilled

More than 20,000 sensitive medical records exposed

Laptop in darkness

Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shows rise in cyberattacks

Coding on screen

Research reveals mass scanning and exploitation campaigns

White post office truck

Department of Labor Sues USPS Over Texas Whistleblower Termination

Computer with binary code hovering nearby

Cyberattacks Targeting US Increased by 136%

2025 Security Benchmark banner

Events

May 22, 2025

Proactive Crisis Communication

Crisis doesn't wait for the right time - it strikes when least expected. Is your team prepared to communicate clearly and effectively when it matters most?

September 29, 2025

Global Security Exchange (GSX)

 

View All Submit An Event

Products

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

See More Products

Related Articles

  • ransom-freepik1170x658v7.jpg

    New Australian task force to "hack the hackers"

    See More
  • hacked-cyber-security-freepik0264.jpg

    Ransom Disclosure Act would require victims to disclose ransom payments within 48 hours

    See More
  • ransomware

    The Institute for Security and Technology launches multi-sector Ransomware Task Force

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • databasehacker

    The Database Hacker's Handboo

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • March 6, 2025

    Why Mobile Device Response is Key to Managing Data Risk

    ON DEMAND: Most organizations and their associating operations have the response and investigation of computers, cloud resources, and other endpoint technologies under lock and key. 
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Sign-up to receive top management & result-driven techniques in the industry.

Join over 20,000+ industry leaders who receive our premium content.

SIGN UP TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing