DoJ recovers 'majority' of ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline
63.7 Bitcoins worth $2.3 million have been seized after a warrant was authorized by judge
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has recovered 63.7 Bitcoins ($2.3 million) paid out by Colonial Pipeline to the DarkSide ransomware gang.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said this "demonstrates that the United States will use all available tools to make these attacks more costly and less profitable for criminal enterprises."
"We will continue to target the entire ransomware ecosystem to disrupt and deter these attacks. Today's announcements also demonstrate the value of early notification to law enforcement; we thank Colonial Pipeline for quickly notifying the FBI when they learned that they were targeted by DarkSide," she said.
In a filed affidavit, the FBI said it was able to track multiple transfers of Bitcoin and identify 63.7 Bitcoins, representing the "majority" of the victim's ransom payment. This had been transferred to a specific address, for which the FBI had the "private key" to access this specific Bitcoin address.
A judge in San Francisco then approved the seizure of funds from this cryptocurrency address.
Colonial Pipeline previously admitted it had paid hackers $4.4 million to regain access to its systems after consulting experts who have dealt with the DarkSide hacking group.
Ilia Kolochenko, founder of ImmuniWeb, and a member of Europol Data Protection Experts Network told IT Pro that the seizure sends a message that the DoJ now has tolerance-zero for ransomware gangs.
"The seizure continues the previously announced efforts to combat surging ransomware and is likely to be a first palpable step to deter cybercriminals. Importantly, the DoJ will certainly need more funding to gradually expand its cybercrime prosecution unit (CCIPS) and foster interagency collaboration," he said.
"Moreover, international cooperation is essential to curb surging ransomware attacks, including baseline cooperation with traditionally hostile jurisdictions. Otherwise, even though uncovered, the perpetrators will likely enjoy impunity due to missing extradition treaties with foreign jurisdictions."
Chris Grove, product evangelist at Nozomi Networks, added that the joint action and collaboration by the government and National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force is exactly what defenders are asking for.
"Defending against run-of-the-mill threats is affordable, and achievable. Some threats rise to a new level and must be dealt with differently. While it's great that the government recovered some of the $4.4 million paid by Colonial Pipeline, we can't lose sight of the fact that while Colonial is a happier ending story, there are dozens of victims we can also discuss who haven't fared as well. Not to mention 100s we know about, but can't discuss, and another 1,000 that we don't even know about," he said.
-
The evolving role of the CISO and how it impacts channel partnersIndustry Insights The traditional IT sales cycle is being rewritten as CISOs emerge as the most important stakeholders for channel partners to align solutions with
-
How businesses can use storytelling to drive AI adoption among their workforceMany employees are still resisting AI tools, but narrative-led communication is more likely to get their buy-in than data and spreadsheets
-
Ransomware cartels are fragmenting into volatile splinter groups, warns Met Police cyber chiefNews Commoditized "cyber crime bazaars" and AI data mining are forcing law enforcement to rewrite its playbook
-
New ransomware threat group, The Gentlemen, has become one of the most active ransomware operators, accounting for 10% of all attacksNews NTT researchers warn that the RaaS group is leveraging SystemBC malware to establish covert tunnelling, evade detection, and support rapid lateral movement across enterprise environments
-
Instructure chose to a pay ransom following the Canvas cyber attack – research shows more than half of security leaders would follow suitAnalysis Opting to pay ransoms creates huge risks for enterprises – you’re relying on the word of criminals
-
Ransomware negotiator sentenced for role in major cyber crime groupNews Deniss Zolotarjovs was a key player in a group associated with Conti
-
Threat actors ditch ‘spray and pray’ attacks in shift to targeted exploitationNews A dip in ransomware volumes points to a more targeted approach focused on vulnerability exploitation
-
Security leaders overconfident about ransomware recovery
News Few manage to recover all their data, and many experience business disruption
-
German authorities want your help finding the hackers behind GandCrab and REvilNews Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk are believed to have made millions from ransomware as a service schemes
-
The rise of teen hackers ‘makes for a good headline’, but cyber crime activities peak later in life
News With family responsibilities and mortgages to pay, it's not teenagers dishing out malware or carrying out cyber extortion
