Ransomware takes centre stage in US official Adeyemo's Middle East trip
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In Israel, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo will discuss focusing technology to counter ransomware and other cyber-related threats.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo will travel to the Middle East on Friday (Nov 12), a Treasury spokesman told Reuters, where he will seek to build partnerships on ransomware and cyber security as hackers wreak havoc among some of America's more vital industries.
Mr Adeyemo, in the highest-ranking visit of a Treasury official to the region under President Joe Biden's administration, will also discuss countering terrorist financing and proliferation, as well as economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, in his visits to Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
In Israel, Mr Adeyemo will discuss focusing technology to counter ransomware and other cyber-related threats, the spokesman said.
It was unclear if he would raise the issue of Israeli spyware company NSO Group, which the United States Commerce Department added to its trade blacklist this month, saying it sold spyware to foreign governments that used the equipment to target government officials, journalists and others.
Mr Biden has made the government's cyber-security response a top priority following a series of attacks this year that threatened to destabilise US energy and food supplies.
Hackers use ransomware to take down systems that control everything from hospital billing to manufacturing. They stop only after receiving hefty payments, typically in cryptocurrency.
This year, gangs have hit numerous US companies in large-scale hacks. One such attack on pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline led to temporary fuel supply shortages on the US East Coast. Hackers also targeted an Iowa-based agricultural company, sparking fears of disruptions to grain harvesting in the Midwest.
The US Treasury Department in a sanctions review last month warned that digital currencies and payment systems could reduce the efficacy of US sanctions, allowing the transfer of funds outside the dollar-based financial system.
"The Deputy Secretary's visit comes on the heels of a sanctions review that emphasised multilateral coordination on sanctions, as well as the threats posed by emerging technologies like virtual assets," the spokesman said.
