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Headlined by Microsoft and McAfee, a group of 19 security firms, non-profits, and tech companies announced plans to form a collective task force that will deal with the threat of ransomware.

The group has been named the Ransomware Task Force (RTF) and will focus on assessing the existing technical solutions that are supposed to protect against ransomware attacks.

The RTF will find the right ransomware experts, engage stakeholders in all industries, find gaps in current solutions and then work toward finding a common way forward to address issues among all members. The hope is that they can come up with a standardized framework to deal with ransomware attacks.

The coalition

The 19 members are:

  • McAfee (Security Firm)
  • Microsoft (Security Firm)
  • Rapid7 (Security Firm)
  • Cybereason (Security Firm)
  • The Cybersecurity Coalition (Policy Maker Group)
  • The Institute for Security and Technology (Policy Maker Group)
  • Team Cymru (Threat Intelligence)
  • Resilience (Cyberinsurance Provider)
  • SecurityScorecard (Compliance And Risk Management)
  • Stratigos Security (Cybersecurity Consulting)
  • Third Way (Think Tank)
  • UT Austin Stauss Center (Research Group)
  • Aspen Digital (Policy Maker Group)
  • Citrix (Networking Equipment Vendor)
  • The Cyber Threat Alliance (Cybersecurity Industry Sharing Group)
  • Venable LLP (Law Firm)
  • The CyberPeace Institute (Non-Profit to help cyberattack victims)
  • The Global Cyber Alliance (Non-Profit to reduce cyber risk)
  • Shadowserver Foundation (Non-Profit Security Organization)

The framework should be one based on an industry consensus, instead of individual advice from lone contractors.

Ransomware has to be stopped

According to the FBI, ransomware is a big problem that causes financial losses to companies every year. This new task force should help bring it to a stop.

The crime transcends sectors and needs all stakeholders to come up with a framework of actionable solutions. As mentioned before, paying for ransomware is not a solution.

Tip: Cybercrime becomes more sophisticated: ‘we can’t continue like this.’