No More Ransom saves almost €1 billion in ransomware payments in 5 years

The No More Ransom project celebrates its fifth anniversary today after helping over six million ransomware victims recover their files and saving them almost €1 billion in ransomware payments.

No More Ransom is an online portal launched in July 2016 and a public-private partnership created by law enforcement and industry leaders (Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, the National High Tech Crime Unit of the Netherlands’ police, McAfee, and Kaspersky).

Today, the No More Ransom project includes 170 partners worldwide, including BleepingComputer, who joined the project in 2018.

"The decryptors available in the No More Ransom repository have helped more than six million people to recover their files for free," the Europol said.

"This prevented criminals from earning almost a billion euros through ransomware attacks. Currently offering 121 free tools able to decrypt 151 ransomware families, it unites 170 partners from the public and private sector."

How does it work?

No More Ransom aims to help victims recover their encrypted files, raise awareness of the ransomware threat, and provide ransomware victims and the general public with direct links to report attacks.

To get a decryptor, you have to upload two encrypted files and the ransomware note via No More Ransom's Crypto Sheriff, which will try to match them against a list of available decryption tools.

If a match comes up, you will get a link to a suitable ransomware decryptor that comes with detailed instructions on how to unlock files.

If no decryptor is available, you'll be advised to check again for a match in the future since new unlock tools are added to the database regularly.

Ransomware victims are advised to never pay as this will finance the criminals future attacks but, instead, take measures to prevent and lessen the damage of such attacks:

Regularly back up data stored on your computer. Keep at least one copy offline. Do not click on links in unexpected or suspicious emails. Browse and download only official versions of software and always from trusted websites. Use robust security products to protect your system from all threats, including ransomware. Ensure that your security software and operating system are up-to-date. Be wary while browsing the internet and do not click on suspicious links, pop-ups or dialogue boxes. Do not use high privilege accounts (accounts with administrator rights) for daily business. If you become a victim, do not pay! Report the crime and check No More Ransom for decryption tools