Anti-ransom success

A year ago the No More Ransom initiative was launched by the Dutch National Police, Europol, McAfee and Kaspersky Lab. Today there are more than 100 partners, as major ransomware attacks continue to dominate the news.

No better cure than prevention

Ransomware has soared since 2012, with criminals lured by the promise of profit and ease of implementation. Every quarter there are more new ransomware families, more variants of existing families, and more attacks.  The threat continues to evolve, becoming stealthier and more destructive, and targeting businesses more than individuals because the potential returns are much higher.

The indiscriminate WannaCry attack in mid-May claimed more than 300,000 business victims across 150 countries in its first few days, crippling critical infrastructure and businesses. Some organisations are still struggling to recover from ExPetr attacks of 27 June.

The total number of users who encountered ransomware between April 2016 and March 2017 rose by 11.4% compared to the previous 12 months, from 2,315,931 to 2,581,026 users around the world.

No More Ransom’s first year in numbers

The site now carries 54 decryption tools, provided by 9 partners and covering 104 kinds (families) of ransomware.  These tools have been downloaded 225.000 times and have managed to decrypt more than 28,000 devices.

The portal has had more than 24.5 million page views since its launch, with a consolidated average of 0.4 million per day. On 14 May alone, during the WannaCry crisis, 150,000 people visited the website.

The No More Ransom platform is now available in 26 languages, with the most recent additions Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish, Tamil and Thai.

More than 100 partners: no boundaries between private, public or competitors

No More Ransom now has over 104 partners, including Associated, Supporting and Founding members.

The most recent joins include, from the private sector: Bitsight, Fortinet, Claranet, CERT.BE, vpnMentor, KISA (Korean Internet & Security Agency), Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), Bournemouth University (BU), EST Security, TWCERT/CC, Abelssoft, Ascora GmbH, InterWorks, LLC and CSA Singapore. Three new law enforcement agencies have joined from Czech Republic, Greece, and Iran.

The success of the No More Ransom initiative is a shared success, one that cannot be achieved by law enforcement or private industry alone. By joining forces, we enhance our ability to take on the criminals and stop them from harming people, businesses and critical infrastructure, once and for all.

Law enforcement globally, in close cooperation with private partners, has ongoing investigations into ransomware criminals and infrastructure. However, prevention is no doubt better than cure. Internet users need to avoid becoming a victim in the first place. Many up to date prevention tips are available on www.nomoreransom.org. If you do become a victim, it is important not to pay the ransom and report your infection to the police.