Senior officials from 31 countries and the European Union said that their governments would take action to disrupt the cryptocurrency payment channels used by ransomware gangs to finance their operations. The joint statement was issued following the virtual Counter-Ransomware Initiative meetings facilitated this week by the White House National Security Council in response to ongoing attacks that revealed significant vulnerabilities across critical worldwide infrastructure. Publicly disclosed ransomware payments have reached almost $500 million worth of cryptocurrency globally during the last two years ($400 million in 2020 and over $80 million in Q1 2021)”]