World leaders at the G7 summit this past week have highlighted cyber ransomware attacks as a priority. Calls were made for Russia to take action against cyber ransomware attackers who were operating from within its borders. As cyber security risk is being seen as an "escalating shared threat", it is evident that it is not just the cyber attackers that will draw increased scrutiny from governments but increasingly organisations who fall victim and make ransom payments will need to closely consider the wider ramifications of this quickly evolving landscape.
Lindsay Cameron, the current head of UK's GCHQ has also spoken about the ransomware crisis and will be making a speech highlighting how the primary key threat is not cyber attacks perpetrated by state actors but cybercriminals. Her upcoming speech follows remarks made earlier this year where she also called for insurance companies to stop paying out ransoms given the anonymous cryptocurrencies often demanded by cybercriminals, such as bitcoin, “facilitate suspicious transactions”.
At the G7 summit in Cornwall on Sunday, leaders of the leading industrial nations agreed to take steps to tackle the problem. The summit’s final communique called on Russia to “hold to account those within its borders who conduct ransomware attacks” and said G7 nations would work together “to urgently address the escalating shared threat”.
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