{"id":40701,"date":"2021-04-29T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/48-ways-you-can-avoid-file-scrambling-data-stealing-miscreants-or-so-says-the-ransomware-task-force\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T10:00:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T10:00:05","slug":"48-ways-you-can-avoid-file-scrambling-data-stealing-miscreants-or-so-says-the-ransomware-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/48-ways-you-can-avoid-file-scrambling-data-stealing-miscreants-or-so-says-the-ransomware-task-force\/","title":{"rendered":"48 ways you can avoid file-scrambling, data-stealing miscreants \u2013 or so says the Ransomware Task Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Institute for Security and Technology’s Ransomware Task Force (RTF) on Thursday published an 81-page report presenting policy makers with 48 recommendations to disrupt the ransomware business and mitigate the effect of such attacks.<\/p>\n

The RTF, formed last December<\/a> and populated by representatives from companies like Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, and Rapid7, and government organizations like the FBI and US Secret Service, has nothing to do with the RDETF, or Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force, assembled last week<\/a> under the auspices of the Justice Department. However, the RTF and RDETF can be expected to cross-pollinate one another.<\/p>\n

The report, provided in advance of publication to The Register<\/i> and due to appear here<\/a>, attempts to provide guidance for dealing with the alarmingly popular scourge of ransomware, which generally involves miscreants who obtain access to poorly secured systems and steal or encrypt system data, thereafter offering to restore it or keep quiet about the whole thing in exchange for a substantial payment.<\/p>\n

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“Ransomware is not just financial extortion; it’s a crime that transcends business, government, academic, and geographic boundaries,” the report says. “It has disproportionately impacted the healthcare industry during the COVID pandemic, and has shut down schools, hospitals, police stations, city governments, and US military facilities.”<\/p>\n

Ransomware funds criminal organizations, the report says, and supports their activities like human trafficking and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And it has gotten the attention of federal officials.<\/p>\n