Protecting its customers from ransomware attacks and preventing their spread is very important for Microsoft. Just a couple of months ago, the company started an operation against the infamous Trickbot botnet, and disabled 94% of its critical operational infrastructure. Now, the Redmond giant has formed a coalition with 18 other entities to prevent this cybercrime in particular.
The Ransomware Task Force (RTF) is a handful of companies and entities from private, government, and nonprofit sectors, with notable members being Microsoft, Citrix, the Institute for Security and Technology (IST), and McAfee, among others. The RTF believes that by joining forces, it has a stronger chance of tackling the problem of ransomware.
The RTF"s main job is described as follows:
The RTF will assess existing solutions at varying levels of the ransomware kill chain, identify gaps in solution application, and create a roadmap of concrete objectives and actionable milestones for high-level decision-makers. To contribute to the final roadmap, the RTF will commission expert papers and engage stakeholders across industries to coalesce around vetted solutions.
The complete list of founding members of the RTF include:
- Aspen Digital
- Citrix
- The Cyber Threat Alliance
- Cybereason
- The CyberPeace Institute
- The Cybersecurity Coalition
- The Global Cyber Alliance
- McAfee
- Microsoft
- Rapid7
- Resilience
- SecurityScorecard
- Shadowserver Foundation
- Stratigos Security
- Team Cymru
- Third Way
- UT Austin Stauss Center
- Venable LLP
- Institute for Security and Technology
Additional details have not been revealed as of yet, but the coalition will be launching a website in January 2021 to explain leadership roles and other relevant information.