Australian cybersecurity minister Clare O’Neil plans to announce in the coming days that a global task force to combat ransomware will go into operation next month.
The task force was first announced during a summit that took place recently in Washington.
To promote greater international information-sharing and exchanging capabilities to combat the widespread ransomware problem, Australia will serve as the chair of the International Counter Ransomware Task Force, which includes the United States and its allies.
According to the senior government source, “Australia is taking the lead because they’ve had some major ransomware attacks.”
“They recognise that the network is global [and] the people are global, so to take it on requires global operational partnerships.”
Ransomware has quickly become one of the most dangerous online security threats, showing no signs of letting up any time soon.
According to a senior administration official, countries worldwide will be invited to join the ransomware task force, concentrating on resilience, disruption, and initiatives to combat illegal financial activity globally.
The past year has seen several high-profile ransomware assaults in Australia, including one directed at one of the country’s biggest private health insurers.
The task group, which is a part of the larger Counter Ransomware Initiative, is the newest effort by the Biden National Security Council to dissuade ransomware actors.
The administration has taken steps to undermine the financial infrastructure that ransomware actors rely on to carry out and benefit from operations by issuing several sanctions against ransomware actors, cryptocurrency exchanges, and mixers.
In addition to arresting numerous members of well-known ransomware gangs and offering incentives for information leading to the arrest of more, prosecutors at the Justice Department have seized cryptocurrency balances that they claim were gained through ransomware scams.
With this new task force in place, the government will keep Australians safe from the threat of cybercriminals.
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