Representatives from more than 30 countries met Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 to coordinate their response to ransomware, which has been devastating to hospitals as they simultaneously battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Five takeaways:
- Nations pledged to promote sharing information on attacks among victims, law enforcement and cyber response teams, according to an Oct. 14 news release.
- The pledge includes lessons learned and best practices for the development of policies, such as addressing ransom payments.
- To disrupt the hacker groups' business model, the nations agreed to enhance anti-money laundering efforts.
- Countries will collaborate to ensure ransomware operators are appropriately prosecuted.
- Participating countries include Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, European Union, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.