Elain Brown Tech 07.26.2022 07:Jul AM EDT

European Law Enforcement Helps More Than 1.5 Million People Decrypt Ransomware

The European law enforcement agency has been reported to have helped over 1.5 million citizens decrypt their devices from ransomware.

The European police force estimates that over the course of the past six years, they have assisted over 1.5 million people and companies in decrypting files that had been locked by criminals using ransomware, resulting in a savings of approximately $1.5 billion.

These figures were announced by Europol (the European Union law enforcement agency) during the sixth anniversary of the No More Ransom project.

This initiative was a collaborative effort of private companies and public governing bodies to help and provide support to citizens who are victims of ransomware through providing free decryption tools.

Ransomware Measures of Europol

Ransomware is malware designed by malicious actors to be deployed to numerous devices, corrupt their systems and files, and then use that incident to their advantage by asking for ransom money from their victims in order to help them stop the spread of the malware.

According to Vice, Europol stated that as of today, the organization provides 136 free decryption tools for 165 different ransomware strains, some of which include Gandcrab, REvil, and Maze.

As reported, "The initiative was born when a Dutch telecom called the local police to alert them that its employees had found a command and control server inside its infrastructure used by a ransomware group, according to Marijn Schuurbiers, the head of operations at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, who worked for the Dutch police at the time."

The decryption keys needed to unlock the encrypted files were on the server, which Schuurbiers and his team discovered when they seized it and began investigating the case.

According to Schuurbiers, they now have the ability to help the victims of ransomware solve the problem because of the decryption keys.

At that moment, he realized that he could also use that opportunity to help other victims of ransomware by offering the decryption tools for free on a website.

And with that, the No More Ransomware project was born. For the past six years, the No More Ransom project has been doing just that.

Industry experts have praised the partnership between a government agency, the private sector, and victims.

No More Ransomware

Ransomware is becoming increasingly rampant nowadays. Most especially during this current height of trying times with the looming recession, COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak of a new virus, and many more.

Malware falls into the category of ransomware when it restricts or prohibits users from accessing their own computers. This can be accomplished by locking the device or system of a victim until they pay a ransom.

One of the newest strategies by malicious actors nowadays is to massively deploy malware in the wild and demand a ransom through cryptocurrency.

This incident has been rampant not just in Europe and America, but all countries around the globe. The unfortunate thing about these types of cyberattacks is that they affect everyone.

Ransomware can affect both individual users and commercial organizations of any size. Cybercriminals are not picky; rather, they are frequently interested in targeting the largest number of users possible in order to make the most money possible.

This private and public partnership project was able to keep up with the changing times and provided a tool called the "Crypto Sheriff."

According to No More Ransomware, this will make it possible for them to determine whether or not a decryption solution for that strain is now accessible.

The Crypto Sheriff is a piece of software that can assist victims in identifying the specific strain of ransomware that is present on their device.