Dutch National Police, Europol, Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab Join Forces to Fight Ransomware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 07/29/2016 09:43 AM [ Comments ]
We recently wrote that ransomware was becoming a pandemic. The numbers don't lie.
In 2014-2015, according to Kaspersky, there were 131,000 instances. But in 2015-2016, the malware saw a 550% increase to 718,000 instances.
The Dutch National Police, Europol, Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab have joined forces to launch an initiative called No More Ransom. They are working together to spread the word about ransomware. They will create a portal to share information and help for victims so that they don't have to pay the ransom.
Wilbert Paulissen, Director of the National Criminal Investigation Division of National Police of the Netherlands commented: “We, the Dutch police, cannot fight against cybercrime and ransomware in particular, alone. This is a joint responsibility of the police, the justice department, Europol, and ICT companies, and requires a joint effort. This is why I am very happy about the police's collaboration with Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab. Together we will do everything in our power to disturb criminals' money making schemes and return files to their rightful owners without the latter having to pay loads of money.”
One such piece of ransomware, called Shade, has already seen its command and control servers seized. The joint forces will be sharing decryption keys with victims and hopes to disperse the keys, which they already contain 160.000 keys for Shade.
Jornt van der Wiel, from Kaspersky labs, said: “The biggest problem with crypto-ransomware today is that when users have precious data locked down, they readily pay criminals to get it back. That boosts the underground economy, and we are facing an increase in the number of new players and the number of attacks as a result.”
He went on to say: “We can only change the situation if we coordinate our efforts to fight against ransomware. The appearance of decryption tools is just the first step on this road. We expect this project to be extended, and soon there will be many more companies and law enforcement agencies from other countries and regions fighting ransomware together.”
Raj Samani, EMEA CTO for Intel Security commented: “This collaboration goes beyond intelligence sharing, consumer education, and takedowns to actually help repair the damage inflicted upon victims. By restoring access to their systems, we empower users by showing them they can take action and avoid rewarding criminals with a ransom payment.”
Source: SCMagazine
The Dutch National Police, Europol, Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab have joined forces to launch an initiative called No More Ransom. They are working together to spread the word about ransomware. They will create a portal to share information and help for victims so that they don't have to pay the ransom.
Wilbert Paulissen, Director of the National Criminal Investigation Division of National Police of the Netherlands commented: “We, the Dutch police, cannot fight against cybercrime and ransomware in particular, alone. This is a joint responsibility of the police, the justice department, Europol, and ICT companies, and requires a joint effort. This is why I am very happy about the police's collaboration with Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab. Together we will do everything in our power to disturb criminals' money making schemes and return files to their rightful owners without the latter having to pay loads of money.”
One such piece of ransomware, called Shade, has already seen its command and control servers seized. The joint forces will be sharing decryption keys with victims and hopes to disperse the keys, which they already contain 160.000 keys for Shade.
Jornt van der Wiel, from Kaspersky labs, said: “The biggest problem with crypto-ransomware today is that when users have precious data locked down, they readily pay criminals to get it back. That boosts the underground economy, and we are facing an increase in the number of new players and the number of attacks as a result.”
He went on to say: “We can only change the situation if we coordinate our efforts to fight against ransomware. The appearance of decryption tools is just the first step on this road. We expect this project to be extended, and soon there will be many more companies and law enforcement agencies from other countries and regions fighting ransomware together.”
Raj Samani, EMEA CTO for Intel Security commented: “This collaboration goes beyond intelligence sharing, consumer education, and takedowns to actually help repair the damage inflicted upon victims. By restoring access to their systems, we empower users by showing them they can take action and avoid rewarding criminals with a ransom payment.”
Source: SCMagazine
Comments