Global community considers crypto, calls for greater vigilance to stop ransomware

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In a joint statement released by the White House, members of the Counter Ransomware Initiative acknowledged that crypto could facilitate ransomware attacks around the world.

Related reading | Ransomware group REvil hacks 200 US companies, demands $ 70 million in Bitcoin as ransom

Representatives of the European Union, Canada, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Kingdom, United States and other members of the international community participated in a virtual meeting on October 13-14 . They discussed the escalating global security threat from ransomware.

In the United States alone, these types of attacks have wreaked havoc in 2021. As Bitcoinist has reported, bad actors have hit hundreds of US-based businesses and used crypto as a means of ” obtain monetary compensation.

The ransom demanded by these groups in Bitcoin and other cryptos can reach millions of US dollars and threaten the stability of the operations of large infrastructure companies, such as the Colonial Pipeline.

This company manages a significant percentage of the oil that passes through the west coast of the United States. Its operations were halted in June when hackers took over and demanded a crypto payment of more than $ 2 million.

In this sense, the Counter Ransomware Initiate acknowledged the resurgence of these attacks against several sectors and called for urgent action, common priorities and complementary efforts to reduce their risk. Members said:

(This) Efforts will include improving network resiliency to prevent incidents where possible and respond effectively when incidents do occur; combat the abuse of financial mechanisms to launder ransom payments or carry out other activities that make ransomware profitable.

The attempts of the 32 Member States will be supported by 4 complementary actions in the fields of diplomacy, the fight against illicit financing, the resilience of networks and the disruption of attackers to hold them accountable as criminal operators.

Related reading | Hackers Double Up On Bitcoin Demanding $ 11 Million In Latest Ransomware Attack

How the international community will try to stop bad actors from using crypto

For its first action, the Counter Ransomware Initiative will try to promote rules-based behavior to get countries to prevent bad actors from operating in their territory.

The statement does not mention a specific country, but some speculation has emerged about Russia and North Korea allowing these activities. This point highlights the need for greater collaboration from the international community.

On the point related to crypto and their associated transactions, the initiative also called for more cooperation to inhibit, trace and ban ransomware payment streams. In this sense, they want to remove the financial incentives for these actors to use digital assets by reducing their payment flows.

Members of the initiative claimed that crypto assets are the main instrument used by criminals to receive their payment and carry out money laundering activities. In this sense, they recognized a lack of equal application of the regulations:

We recognize that the uneven global implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) creates an environment conducive to judicial arbitration by malicious actors seeking redress. platforms for moving illicit products ().

To achieve this goal, members of the initiative will attempt to lobby VASPs to mitigate the risks associated with these entities. In addition, they claim that there will be more cooperation with the crypto industry to eliminate ransomware by improving the sharing of related information.

Related reading | The New Republic believes the crypto ban will end ransomware attacks. It’s not okay.

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading at $ 61,500 with a 7% profit on the daily chart.

BTC on a rally in the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview

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