NoMoreRansom, which was a partnership created in 2016, has expanded with updates and new partners.

Originally created by Europol, the Dutch National Police, Kaspersky Lab and Intel Security (now once again McAfee), it is a portal to assist victims regain their files without paying the ransom.

The project has been updated with the addition of 15 new decryption tools. It has also expanded its partner base with the addition of 30 new public and private members, including the law enforcement agencies of Australia, Belgium, Israel, South Korea, Russia and Ukraine; and Interpol. SentinelOne and Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

So far, at least 10,000 victims have been able to regain their files with the decryption tools. Victims have come from Russia, the Netherlands, the United States, Italy and Germany.

One of the latest ransomware versions to be decrypted is from the Bart family of ransomware. "The tool," says Bitdefender, "is a direct result of successful collaboration between Bitdefender, Europol and Romanian police, supporting the 'No More Ransom' initiative kick started by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre."

According to BitDefender, the developers of Bart are the same cyber-criminals as those behind the Dridex and Locky ransomware strains.

Ransomware is still increasing. Losses have increased 300% from 2015 to 2016 to an estimated total of $1 billion.

Source: Security Week