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Europol, Intel and Kaspersky assemble to combat ransomware

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

July 25, 2016 | 3 min read

Europol has identified the growing threat of ransomware software that forces access to user data and ransoms it, looking to clamp down on attacks from the software by establishing partnerships with Intel and Kaspersky Lab.

Europol Kapersky

Europol Kapersky

An initiative called No More Ransom will bring the private sector tech and cyber experts to cooperate with Europol to study and drive awareness of the attacks than can attack both personal computers and business infrastructure.

Kaspersky Lab claims that the number of users attacked by crypto-ransomware rose by 5.5 times, from 131,000 in 2014-2015 to 718,000 in 2015-2016.

They have launched a website providing the public with information on what ransomware is, how it works and how the public can protect themselves.

"The biggest problem with crypto-ransomware today is that when users have precious data locked down, they readily pay criminals to get it back. That boosts the underground economy, and we are facing an increase in the number of new players and the number of attacks as a result. We can only change the situation if we coordinate our efforts to fight against ransomware. The appearance of decryption tools is just the first step on this road.

“We expect this project to be extended, and soon there will be many more companies and law enforcement agencies from other countries and regions fighting ransomware together", says Jornt van der Wiel, security researcher at global research and analysis team, Kaspersky Lab.

Wil van Gemert, Europol deputy director operations, concluded: "For a few years now ransomware has become a dominant concern for EU law enforcement. It is a problem affecting citizens and business alike, computers and mobile devices, with criminals developing more sophisticated techniques to cause the highest impact on the victim's data.

“Initiatives like the No More Ransom project shows that linking expertise and joining forces is the way to go in the successful fight against cybercrime. We expect to help many people to recover control over their files, while raising awareness and educating the population on how to maintain their devices clean from malware."

Kaspersky Lab and Intel Security claim to have collectively prevented more than 27,000 attempts to attack users with Shade Trojan.

Europol Technology Intel

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