ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº

Over the last decade, cyber-attacks and intrusions have continued to increase both in number and sophistication.  The COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent shift to living and doing business online, has only exacerbated this troubling trend as criminals and other malicious actors take advantage of our increased dependence on digital and networked technologies.

The cyber threat is global, because every country is a potential victim and because cybercriminals take advantage of ¡°the weakest link¡± and route their criminal activity through countries with insufficient legal structures or investigative capability.  Therefore, globally coordinated efforts to fight this threat are vital. 

The Digital Development team at the World Bank is hosting this ¡°Ransomware Pandemic¡± webinar, as the first DigiTalk event of our new knowledge sharing series of events on cyber resilience.

The event will cover the increasing threat posed by ransomware attacks, and will focus on several themes: governmental response, economic impact, law enforcement, incident management, and capacity building.

The webinar will feature a keynote address by Chris Painter, President of the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise (GFCE) followed by a panel discussion featuring leading global cyber resilience experts.  In his keynote, Mr. Painter will discuss the threat to developed and developing countries posed by cybercrime, focusing on the increasing incidents of disruptive ransomware attacks that have targeted health care, public safety and the provision of critical services such as food and fuel distribution.  He will discuss the various actors who perpetrate ransomware, the need for international cooperation, and steps that countries can take to combat malicious cyber activities.  He will outline some of the steps taken by the US to target ransomware groups, the need to expose countries who provide safe havens for ransomware and other cyber criminals and will also address the need for capacity building for countries who lack the capability to meet this new and growing challenge.