Europol is celebrating six years of No More Ransomware. It is a collaboration between law enforcement (Europol and the Dutch National Police) and IT companies. It has a simple goal to provide free decryptors and tools for different strains of ransomware. To date, there are now 136 tools that cover over 165 ransomware variants.
Equally important is the number of public and private sector partners that are engaged with No More Ransomware. It now stands at 188 organisations, with many providing tools or helping with the verification of tools. It shows how communities can work together without being a threat to commercial concerns.
According to the press release: “To date, the scheme has so far helped over 1.5 million people successfully decrypt their devices without needing to pay the criminals. The portal is available in 37 languages in order to better assist victims of ransomware across the globe.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Ransomware continues to thrive despite the number of vendors offering commercial tools. One reason for this is the ready availability of the malware for those who want to deploy it. Another is the shared revenue models that are in use. These make it simple for people to monetise an attack.
While much of the focus is on large organisations that get attacked, there is less knowledge about small enterprises and individuals. They are no less likely to get caught up in a widescale phishing attack that deploys malware than larger enterprises. The problem is, that they lack the knowledge, skills and even the software to protect themselves and recover from an attack.
This is where No More Ransomware has been successful. By helping individuals and small businesses it is helping to reduce the impact ransomware has on the community. The challenge now is keeping ahead of the attackers and developing more decryptors and tools.
