Sanctions looming for crypto companies allowing ransomware attacks

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The US Treasury Department is considering penalizing cryptocurrency entities if they let ransomware attackers use their services to collect extortions.

The Wall Street Journal broke the news, stating that the federal government is considering fining or sanctioning entities such as exchanges, digital wallets and mixing services that mask the movement of cryptocurrency between addresses. , which makes specific transactions more difficult to trace if they support the transfer or storage of ill-gotten funds.

The policies could be unveiled as early as this week, according to a US official whose identity has been kept anonymous.

The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) hosted a ransomware task force earlier this year, which recommended tackling the global scourge by taking action to make the conduct of ransomware more problematic than it is. worth it. Many recent public sector conversations about ransomware have focused on whether to prohibit victims from paying, as a way to remove the monetary incentive behind the crimes.

Reaching the point where the United States can outright ban all payments can be a long and bumpy road, however, the researchers said, as cybercriminals are unlikely to give up quickly and some victims will need help surviving the attacks. Meanwhile.

Treasury departments approach homes from another part of the ecosystem and try to prevent ransomware perpetrators from profiting by targeting the financial infrastructure that underpins their business models. Ransomware criminals often seek payment in cryptocurrencies.

The ransomware task force called for similar measures in its May 2021 report, with the authors arguing for countries around the world to keep the cryptocurrency industry under strict anti-money laundering rules, anti-terrorist financing and know-your-customer rules, similar to those followed by traditional financial institutions.

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