[ad_1]
Officials at a U.S. government task force seized more than $ 2 million in crypto used to pay ransom following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system.
At a press conference on Monday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the task force found and recovered millions of dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) connected to Russia-based DarkSide hackers, the majority of the 4.4 millions of dollars initially paid. A warrant filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California shows that authorities recovered 63.7 BTC, worth about $ 2.3 million at the time.
Monaco said this action was the first major operation of the task forces’ mission to investigate, disrupt and prosecute ransomware attacks:
Today we have turned the tables on DarkSide. […] By addressing the entire ecosystem that powers ransomware and digital extortion attacks, including the proceeds of crime in the form of digital currency, we will continue to use all of our tools and resources to increase the cost and consequences of ransomware attacks.
DarkSides’ attack on the main pipeline last month caused fuel shortages for many in the United States. Monaco said the company promptly informed authorities of the issue and the ransom demand, resulting in the involvement of task forces.
At the same press conference, FBI Deputy Deputy Director Paul Abatt said officials seized funds from a BTC wallet used to pay the ransom for the cyber attack. However, at the time of publication, the method used to recover the crypto funds is unclear. A CNN report said officials could have identified DarkSide as the culprits and used their network to trace funds shortly after the attack, but this method has had mixed success with ransomware groups.
[ad_2]
picture credit