G7 Leaders Ask Russia to Urgently Identify Those Who Abuse Cryptocurrency in Ransomware Attacks – Regulation Bitcoin News

G7 leaders have called on Russia to urgently “identify, disrupt and hold accountable” ransomware hackers and those who misuse cryptocurrency to launder ransoms. “We reiterate our interest in stable and predictable relations with Russia, and will continue to engage where there are areas of mutual interest,” the G7 leaders said.

G7 Nations Calls on Russia to Identify and Disrupt Ransomware Hackers, Abusing Cryptocurrencies

The leaders of the G7 countries met in Cornwall, England, on June 11-13. Among a long list of topics they discussed were ransomware attacks with cryptocurrency. The G7 consists of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada.

“We reiterate our interest in stable and foreseeable relations with Russia, and we will continue to engage where there are areas of mutual interest,” reads a statement on Sunday after the end of a leadership summit, adding:

In particular, we call on Russia urgently … to identify, disrupt and hold accountable those within its borders who commit ransomware attacks, abuse virtual currency to launder ransoms and other cybercrimes.

In addition to cybercrime, the G7 leaders called on Russia to “investigate and credibly explain the use of a chemical weapon on its soil” and “end its systematic repression against independent civil society and the media.”

Recently, several major companies in the United States have been attacked against ransom programs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes the attackers were part of Russian cybercrime groups. The hackers demanded payment in bitcoin. The bureau suspects that the Revil group, aka Sodinokibi, was behind the attack on a meat processing company JBS. The hacker group Darkside is thought to be behind the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.

The Biden administration said earlier this month that “Fighting ransom programs is a priority for the administration,” adding that it will expand analysis of cryptocurrency to combat ransomware program attacks.

G7 finance ministers and central bank governors met earlier this month in London. They discussed the regulation of digital currencies by a central bank and agreed to “work for common principles and publish conclusions later in the year.”

Do you think Russia will act as the G7 leaders asked about a crypto ransom? Let us know in the comments section below.

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