Pavel Štěpáník, Deputy Director for Strategic Affairs and Cooperation at the National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB), and Berta Jarošová, Cyber Attachée for the United States and Canada, represented the Czech Republic at the Fourth International Counter Ransomware Summit. The summit, held in Washington DC, was organized by Anne Neuberger, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology.
High-level representatives from 68 countries and organizations, including Interpol, discussed the rise in ransomware attacks targeting strategic institutions and entities, enhancing information sharing and active disruption of ransomware groups. The summit also served as an opportunity to discuss other strategic topics such as the use of artificial intelligence in combating cyber threats, strengthening resilience and supply chain security in the energy sector and building cybersecurity capacity as part of cyber diplomacy efforts.
During the four-day summit, organized by the White House, NÚKIB representatives highlighted the growing sophistication of ransomware attacks against strategic institutions and entities in the Czech Republic, as confirmed by the previously published 2023 Czech Cybersecurity Report. They also presented the ongoing cooperation within the inter-agency working group for combating ransomware, which NÚKIB, along with the Czech Police's National Centre Against Terrorism, Extremism, and Cybercrime (NCTEKK), established in January 2024.
Over the past year, the Czech Republic, particularly through NÚKIB, has been involved in several projects and activities as part of the International Counter Ransomware Task Force, led by Australia. NÚKIB representatives also participated in an international ransomware table-top exercise organized by Singapore in collaboration with the United Kingdom in June 2024.
"Close cooperation with foreign partners is key to successfully countering ransomware, as was proven this year when, thanks to a warning from our American partners, we were able to protect one of the entities in the Czech Republic against a ransomware attack. Thanks to timely information sharing and operational cooperation with our CERT, we were able to inform the potential victim before the attack could actually take place," said Pavel Štěpáník, Deputy Director of NÚKIB, who also met with several other foreign partners during the summit and visited the U.S. Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Center and NASA HQ.
This year’s summit once again confirmed that ransomware remains one of the key national security threats faced by countries across continents. As in previous years, a general joint statement was adopted at the summit, as well as a declaration calling for responsible state behavior in cyberspace and the use of all available tools and means to combat ransomware, which the Czech Republic has also endorsed.
Last year, the summit endorsed a joint statement against paying ransom. NÚKIB repeatedly advises against paying ransom, as emphasized in our ransomware recommendations updated in the first half of 2023.
Ransomware is a type of malicious code (malware) that encrypts data, preventing the user from accessing it. In most cases, the attacker demands a ransom for the decryption. While financial gain is the main motivation for this practice, there are cases where the attacker destroys the data without demanding any ransom. Increasingly, attackers also threaten to publish the data, especially when targeting companies that store and process sensitive customer information.