Biden admin is convening 30 countries to talk ransomware and international cybercrime

In a statement released October 1, the White House revealed plans to convene 30 nations for cybersecurity month as part of a “whole-of-nation effort to confront cyber threats.” 

“We must lock our digital doors,” the statement enjoined, “by encrypting our data and using multifactor authentication, for example — and we must build technology securely by design, enabling consumers to understand the risks in the technologies they buy.”

The administration is apparently looking to gather members of NATO and the G7 on the issue. Since a turbulent spring, cybersecurity and, especially, ransomware has emerged as major national and international security priorities.

Unspoken in today’s announcement was the role of Russia. Relations between the White House and the Kremlin have increasingly hinged upon the latter’s involvement with Russia’s ecosystem of cyber gangs. Ransomware was a major sources of contention in conversations between US president Joe Biden and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

More recently, Biden’s Treasury issued the U.S.’ first sanctions against a cryptocurrency exchange, Suex. Registered in Prague but based in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Suex was linked to ransomware cashouts as well as dirty crypto exchange BTC-e and darknet market Hydra.