US seeking Counter Ransomware Initiative renunciation of ransom payments

All national governments participating in the Counter Ransomware Initiative have been reportedly urged by the U.S. National Security Council to jointly renounce providing ransom payments to threat actors ahead of the CRI's annual summit on Oct. 31, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. The statement, which will not include companies and other entities, is being aimed by the White House to be released prior to the summit although adhering to such a timeline remains uncertain, said three sources close to the matter. While the NSC has not commented on the proposed document, such a declaration has been noted by cybersecurity experts to be crucial in combating ransomware attacks, with Recorded Future threat intelligence analyst Allan Liska saying that ransom payments both bolster threat operations' arsenal and help finance other cyberattacks. However, ethical hacker Marc Rogers said that providing cyber assistance to governments with fewer resources would better address ransomware attacks than prohibiting payments. "If they use the same energy to get all these countries together to attack cyber-hygiene issues and close the gap, you would actually have a measurable impact on ransomware," Rogers said.