Tässä oli selostettu hieman tarkemmin:
US investigators have seized millions in stolen bitcoins taken in the pipeline ransomware attack
The news: The US Justice Department has
seized ransom money that Colonial Pipeline paid to a Russian hacking group last month. The money was paid after a ransomware attack crippled the company’s computer systems and forced it to shut down a 5,500-mile pipeline that carries nearly half of the fuel used on the East Coast. The aftermath of the attack saw a rapid rise in gas prices and closures of thousands of gas stations.
Track and trace: But investigators worked with Colonial Pipeline to track the ransom of 75 bitcoins (around $5 million at the time) through 23 different cryptocurrency accounts operated by DarkSide, a cybercrime collective based in Russia.
Eventually it ended up in a wallet that
a US judge allowed investigators to break into and recover 63.7 bitcoins (today worth around $2.3 million, because the cryptocurrency dropped in value in the last month). “The old adage ‘follow the money’ still applies,” said deputy attorney general Lisa O. Monaco at a news conference at the Justice Department on Monday.
The background: The FBI has been investigating DarkSide for more than a year. The group provides ransomware tools to hacker affiliates to carry out attacks in exchange for a cut of the ransom money. But DarkSide is just part of a growing problem. The FBI says it is looking at more than 100 ransomware variants and new attacks hit companies every day.
This was the first seizure of a cyber ransom undertaken by
the Department of Justice’s recently created digital extortion taskforce, which will coordinate investigations and track the tools and techniques that hackers use. It marks a more aggressive response from the US government, which has started to push back against what it views as an urgent threat to the nation’s interests.
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