US Government Gathers Representatives from 37 Countries and 13 Private Companies for Conference Against Ransomware

JAKARTA - The White House will host officials from 37 countries and 13 global companies in Washington this week to tackle the growing threat of ransomware and other cybercrimes. This also includes the illegal use of cryptocurrencies.

According to a senior US official, the face-to-face meeting is a continuation of last year's virtual inaugural meeting of the informal Counter-Ransomware Initiative, which added seven more countries and brought together a diverse group of private sector players for the first time.

The White House hopes the meeting will allow participating countries to "institute a set of globally recognized cyber norms to counter the threat of criminal ransomware and hold bad actors to account."

According to this senior US official, the participants plan to issue a joint statement at the end of the meeting on Tuesday, October 1 including a pledge to redouble efforts to put pressure on Russia and other countries hosting ransomware attackers.

One of the main topics for discussion is how such disruptive attacks counter the illicit movement of cryptocurrencies and build resilience against such attacks, the official said.

"So less about Russia, more about how we as a set of countries make it harder, more expensive, more risky for ransomware actors to operate," the official said.

Ransomware attacks have increased sharply in recent years, with more than 4,000 attacks reported outside the United States over the past 18 months alone. The official also added that there was also progress in apprehending the attacker.

The ransom software works by encrypting the victim's data, with the hacker offering the victim the key in exchange for cryptocurrency payments that can run into millions of dollars.

Top administration officials, including FBI Director Chris Wray, Undersecretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will speak at the meeting.

Participating countries other than the United States include: Australia, Austria, Belgium Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, European Commission, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.

Russia, Belarus and other countries believed to be ports for hackers will not participate.