On Saturday, the leaders of India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, known as the Quad, vowed to work together to ensure the security and resilience of regional cyberinfrastructure.
Following a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, the leaders of the four countries issued a joint statement on the subject. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, along with his counterparts Penny Wong of Australia, Hayashi Yoshimasa of Japan, and US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, issued a statement urging states to take reasonable steps to address ransomware operations originating from within their borders.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, comprised of India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, was established in 2017 to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. According to the statement, the leaders believe that focused initiatives to strengthen Indo-Pacific countries' cyber capabilities will ensure the security and resilience of regional cyberinfrastructure.
"The transnational nature of ransomware can adversely affect our national security, finance sector and business enterprise, critical infrastructure, and the protection of personal data. We appreciate the progress made by the 36 countries supporting the US-led Counter Ransomware Initiative and the regular, practical-oriented consultations against cybercrime in the Indo-Pacific region," they said.
The ministers emphasised that practical cooperation in countering ransomware among Indo-Pacific partners would result in ransomware actors in the region being denied a safe haven.
Recalling the last Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on February 11 of this year, the ministers stated their commitment to addressing the global threat of ransomware, which has hampered Indo-Pacific economic development and security.