The US Treasury Department said on Sunday it will partner with Israel to combat ransomware, with the two countries launching a joint task force to address cybersecurity.
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The task force will develop a memorandum of understanding supporting information sharing related to the financial sector, including cybersecurity regulations and threat intelligence, the US Treasury Department said.
The announcement follows a virtual meeting on ransomware held at the White House in October with the European Union and more than 30 countries, including Israel.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo asked then for international cooperation to address the abuse of virtual currency and disrupt the ransomware business model.
Adeyemo met with Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Director-General of the National Cyber Directorate Yigal Unna, Central Bank Governor Amir Yaron, as well as local fintech and cybersecurity entrepreneurs in Israel on Sunday to establish a bilateral partnership, the department said in a statement.
The partnership follows measures taken to combat a surge in ransomware that has struck several big US companies, including an attack on the largest fuel pipeline in the United States that crippled fuel delivery for several days. A broader US-Israeli task force was also launched on Sunday to "support fintech innovation that features robust cybersecurity protections and that can advance compliance with international standards on anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and countering the financing of proliferation."
These technical exchanges, according to the US Treasury, "will examine how cyber analytics firms, as well as fintech and regtech innovators, are developing new ways to mitigate illicit finance risk and to enhance public sector analytical and enforcement activities."
In that spirit, the US Treasury also said it will participate in the CyberTech Global Tel Aviv conference in Israel in January 2022.
"Harnessing both the power of international cooperation and of technology innovation will position us to support economic competitiveness, prosperity, and to combat global threats including ransomware," said Adeyemo.
"As the global economy recovers and ransomware and other illicit finance threats present a grave challenge to Israel and the United States, increased information exchanges, joint work, and collaboration on policy, regulation, and enforcement are critical to our economic and national security objectives," he added.
A US Treasury Department report in October found that the rise of digital currencies and a decline in the use of the dollar by US adversaries mean that the US needs to take a more multilateral approach to sanctions policy.
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Earlier this month, the US Justice Department charged a Ukraine national and a Russian in one of the worst ransomware attacks against American targets.
Less than two weeks ago, the US blacklisted NSO Group – the maker of Pegasus spyware – and another Israeli company for developing spyware, banning it from receiving exports from American companies.
NSO said at the time it was dismayed "given that our technologies support US national security interests and policies by preventing terrorism and crime."
