The Justice Department this week created a task force to curb ransomware, according to media reports.

Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin said ransomware poses not just an economic threat to businesses but “jeopardizes the safety and health of Americans,” according to an internal memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

The task force, which will include the Justice Department’s criminal, national security and civil divisions, the FBI, and the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, will also collaborate with the private sector. The joint effort will dedicate more resources to fight ransomware, seek to improve intelligence sharing, and work to identify “links between criminal actors and nation-states,” according to the memorandum.

News of the task force follows a record-breaking year for both ransoms demanded and paid. The highest ransom paid by an organization to a cybercriminal gang doubled from $5 million in 2019 to $10 million in 2020, while the average ransom paid skyrocketed 171%, according to Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42.

And just days before reports surfaced about the Justice Department’s new task force, REvil, a Russian ransomware-as-a-service gang, hit Apple supplier Quanta with a $50 million ransomware attack.

Cybersecurity vendors, many of whom co-founded a similar private-sector effort late last year, lauded the Justice Department’s ransomware task force.

“The cybersecurity risks of ransomware are a clear and present, global danger,” said Thomas Gann, chief public policy officer at McAfee’s Enterprise Division, in an email to SDxCentral.

McAfee, along with Citrix, Cybereason, Microsoft, Rapid7, SecurityScorecard, Cyber Threat Alliance, and Global Cyber Alliance, in December 2020 announced the Ransomware Task Force, and said the group would provide recommendations for both public agencies and private companies to reduce the threat posed by ransomware early this year.

“DOJ has the tools and reach to tackle this [ransomware] challenge in an effective manner,” Gann said. “We believe that the private sector Ransomware Task Force, scheduled to make similar announcements next week, will also provide valuable tools to support the work of the DOJ’s fight against ransomware.”

Cybereason CSO Sam Curry said it’s important that public and private organizations work together to stay ahead of the attackers. “The community of defenders, when mobilized, is unstoppable,” he said in an email. “As we ramp up efforts, let’s keep in mind that we have to improve the interests of all legitimate internet users: men and women, citizens, students, workers, and more from all walks of life. That means sometimes efforts should merge, sometimes specialize, sometimes stop pursuing fruitless development.”

“Ransomware is a scourge that must stop because its trajectory has the potential to undermine one of the greatest economic engines for all and something that can uplift the human condition everywhere in the world,” Curry added. “It’s time to give the defenders new tools, advantages, and alliances.”