UK government proposes ban on crypto ransomware payouts

In 2021, Britain’s former cybersecurity chief said that businesses paying ransomware attackers, often in cryptocurrency, are inadvertently funding organized crime and that the situation is “close to getting out of control.”

According to today’s announcement, 13 ransomware incidents, part of the 430 cyber incidents that took place between September 2023 and August 2024, “posed serious harm to essential services or the wider economy.”

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said, “With an estimated $1 billion flowing to ransomware criminals globally in 2023, it is vital we act to protect national security as a key foundation upon which this government’s Plan for Change is built.”

Last year, the UK’s National Crime Agency helped disrupt the criminal organization Lockbit last year. The ransomware group is attributed to the data leak of Evolve Bank and Trust.

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