Trevor Hunnicutt & Nandita Bolse

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The top U.S. national security officials will be meeting with representatives from 30 nations this month to discuss plans to counter the rising threat of ransomware, President Joe Biden announced on Friday.

Biden stated in a statement that an online meeting hosted by White House National Security Council would also aim to “improving law enforcement cooperation” on topics like “the illicit usage of cryptocurrency.”

After a series of cyberattacks this year, the Biden administration raised its response to cybersecurity to the highest levels.

The meat manufacturer JBS SA (OTC:) paid https://www.reuters.com/technology/jbs-paid-11-mln-response-ransomware-attack-2021-06-09 $11 million to end an attack on its systems that halted production and was believed to have originated from a criminal group with Russian links.

Colonial Pipeline paid a hacker gang believed to be based in Eastern Europe nearly $5 million https://www.reuters.com/business/colonial-pipeline-ceo-tells-senate-cyber-defenses-were-compromised-ahead-hack-2021-06-08/#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%2C%20June%208%20(Reuters,by%20stealing%20a%20single%20password to regain access, some of which was later clawed back by U.S. law enforcement.

The ransoms were paid in bitcoin by both companies.

Ransom software works by encrypting victims’ data. Cryptocurrency payments can reach into the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. Usually, hackers offer victims keys in exchange for crypto payment.

Biden’s administration believes that the Counter-Ransomware Initiative will be a new group to support their diplomatic efforts. This includes direct talks with Russia, the NATO alliance, and the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations.

The administration has increasingly focused on blocking https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-allies-accuse-china-global-cyber-hacking-campaign-2021-07-19 what it calls China’s “malicious cyber activity,” charges which Beijing has denied.

At the time, it was unclear which countries were going to participate and when.

A White House official stated that they were particularly interested in addressing “the misuse of virtual currencies to launder ransom money” and are planning to “investigate & prosecute ransomware crimes,” which can include anonymous individuals who attack institutions abroad.