Microsoft and McAfee want to end ransomware for good

Microsoft, McAfee and almost two dozen other companies have formed a new coalition, the goal of which is to completely eliminate ransomware. Called the Ransomware Task Force (RTF), this A-team will build a standardized framework for dealing with the threat, regardless of the industry.

At the moment, instead of having industry consensus on how to tackle ransomware, affected businesses try to handle the threat through individual advice given by different contractors.

The RTF’s strategy consists of two elements. First, writing expert papers, engaging stakeholders in different industries and identifying weaknesses in existing cybersecurity solutions. Second, the entire team will put their minds together to build a joint roadmap and solve issues as they appear along the way.

Here are the initial members of the RTF: Aspen Digital,Citrix, The Cyber Threat Alliance, Cybereason, The CyberPeace Institute, The Cybersecurity Coalition, The Global Cyber Alliance, The Institute for Security and Technology, McAfee, Microsoft, Rapid7, Resilience, SecurityScorecard, Shadowserver Foundation, Stratigos Security, Team Cymru, Third Way, UT Austin Stauss Center, and Venable LLP.

“This crime transcends sectors and requires bringing all affected stakeholders to the table to synthesize a clear framework of actionable solutions, which is why IST and our coalition of partners are launching this Task Force for a two-to-three month sprint,” said the Institute for Security and Technology, according to ZDNet.