US and Israel join forces to fight ransomware
The two countries will share details of cyber security incidents and threat intelligence
The US and Israel have partnered to create an anti-ransomware task force which will see the two countries work together on protecting their critical financial infrastructure from online extortionists.
The task force will create a memorandum of understanding to share financial sector information, including details of cyber security incidents and threat intelligence. They will also collaborate on staff training to bolster cyber security skills, and organize joint cyber security exercises that follow financial and investment flows.
The joint task force will also organize the exchange of technical information on policy and regulation.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo launched the initiative with Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Director General of the National Cyber Directorate Yigal Unna on Sunday as part of a broader partnership on fintech innovation and security.
This focus is also reflected in the task force's work plan, which will address fintech innovations that fight crimes such as money laundering. It will also explore how fintech and cyber analytics companies can reduce financial risk, the two governments said.
As part of the joint effort, the US Treasury Department will participate in the CyberTech Global Tel Aviv conference in January.
RELATED RESOURCE
The best defence against ransomware
How ransomware is evolving and how to defend against it
Last month, Israel participated in a virtual Counter-Ransomware Initiative meeting including over 30 countries. The event is one sign the US is getting more serious about ransomware crimes. The Department of State offered $10 million for information on the BlackMatter ransomware group, while its Treasury Department also sanctioned a cryptocurrency exchange over its alleged ties to ransomware actors.
VirusTotal's recent Ransomware Activity Report suggested Israel was the country most hit by ransomware in the last year. The report showed a 600% increase in the number of ransomware samples reported to the service by Israeli organizations since 2020. The report was published just as Israel's Hillel Yaffe Medical Center reeled from a large ransomware attack experts said could take months to recover from.
Last month, Microsoft reported last month it saw Iranian hackers targeting Israel and US defense contractors.
-
Universities worldwide still struggling with fallout from Canvas cyber attackNews ShinyHunters threat group has claimed responsibility for the attack
-
HP EliteBook X Flip G1i reviewReviews Looking past the lack of a multi-core roar in its Lunar Lake chip, there's very little to complain about in this mobile and security-centric hybrid machine
-
Ransomware negotiator sentenced for role in major cyber crime groupNews Deniss Zolotarjovs was a key player in a group associated with Conti
-
Threat actors ditch ‘spray and pray’ attacks in shift to targeted exploitationNews A dip in ransomware volumes points to a more targeted approach focused on vulnerability exploitation
-
Security leaders overconfident about ransomware recoveryNews Few manage to recover all their data, and many experience business disruption
-
German authorities want your help finding the hackers behind GandCrab and REvilNews Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk are believed to have made millions from ransomware as a service schemes
-
The rise of teen hackers ‘makes for a good headline’, but cyber crime activities peak later in life
News With family responsibilities and mortgages to pay, it's not teenagers dishing out malware or carrying out cyber extortion
-
Ransomware gangs are using employee monitoring software as a springboard for cyber attacks
News Two attempted attacks aimed to exploit Net Monitor for Employees Professional and SimpleHelp
-
Ransomware gangs are sharing virtual machines to wage cyber attacks on the cheap – but it could be their undoingNews Thousands of attacker servers all had the same autogenerated Windows hostnames, according to Sophos
-
Google issues warning over ShinyHunters-branded vishing campaignsNews Related groups are stealing data through voice phishing and fake credential harvesting websites
