What is Ransomware Task Force (RTF)?

One of the biggest security alliances has just officially been born as the Ransomware Task Force (RTF).

File encryption malware has been, is, and will be growing in popularity in the near future. With more sophisticated mode of spread, as well as the ability to cause more severe damage. These malicious codes not only target traditional businesses, but also tend to cause more damage to individual systems.

As one of the world's largest online service providers, protecting customers from ransomware attacks and preventing their spread is crucial for Microsoft. Recently, the Redmond company and its allies teamed up against the infamous Trickbot botnet, and disabled 94% of its critical operational infrastructure. From there, it can be seen that the collaboration between independent units in the field of security - cybersecurity will play an extremely important role in the fight against security breaches, including ransomware.

From the above point of view, one of the largest security alliances in the world has just officially been born as the Ransomware Task Force (RTF). This is an association of 19 global companies in the technology sector, led by Microsoft, and established to deal with all kinds of ransomware related issues on an unlimited scale. The first 19 members present in Ransomware Task Force include:

1. Aspen Digital
2. Citrix
3. The Cyber ​​Threat Alliance
4. Cybereason
5. The CyberPeace Institute
6. The Cybersecurity Coalition
7. The Global Cyber ​​Alliance
8. McAfee
9. Microsoft
10. Rapid7
11. Resilience
12. SecurityScorecard
13. Shadowserver Foundation
14. Stratigos Security
15. Team Cymru
16. Third Way
17. UT Austin Stauss Center
18. Venable LLP
19. Institute for Security and Technology

What is Ransomware Task Force (RTF)? Picture 1

The Ransomware Task Force is comprised of members from the private, government, and nonprofit sectors. Among them are extremely well known names like Microsoft, Citrix, Institute for Security and Technology (IST), and McAfee. These are all organizations with years of experience in the field of security, and can be considered as the leading flags in the global anti-ransomware activity.

In the coming time, the main task of Ransomware Task Force will include the following activities:

1. Evaluate existing solutions at different levels of the ransomware response chain.
2. Identify gaps in solution implementation and create a specific goal roadmap. Along with that was developing a standard anti-malware framework that all industries follow.
3. In particular, the RTF will also offer highly specialized assessments and security solutions that are independently submitted.

As planned, the website Ransomware Task Force is expected to officially go into operation from January 1/2021. At the same time, details about the organization's members, leaders, as well as the official website will be announced.

David Pac

Update 25 December 2020