On Thursday, the US government announced up to $10 million in rewards for tips leading authorities to malicious hackers working at the behest of foreign governments to target US infrastructure.
The US State Department said “certain malicious cyber operations targeting US critical infrastructure may violate the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act)” and it “set up a Dark Web (Tor-based) tips-reporting channel to protect the safety and security of potential sources.”
According to The Associated Press and Reuters, a White House task force will coordinate efforts to fight the rising scourge of ransomware.
A new federal government website, stopransomware.gov, offers the public resources for countering the threat and building more resilience into networks.
The Treasury Department also announced its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would work with banks and tech companies on anti-money-laundering (AML) efforts involving cryptocurrency. They will also focus on more rapid ransomware payment tracing.
Investigators hope to seize more extortion payments in ransomware cases, like the Department of Justice did in May when it recovered about $2.3 million of the ransom paid in the Colonial Pipeline hacking case.
The new rewards for tips in ransomware cases will come from the State Department, which will put a tip-reporting mechanism on the dark web to protect sources who might identify cyber attackers and their locations. The reward payments may include cryptocurrency.
RELATED RESOURCE
TA551/Shathak threat research
A detailed report on the cyber crime group and its attacks
Administration officials wouldn’t comment on whether the government had a hand in Tuesday’s online disappearance of REvil. This Russian-linked gang just launched a massive ransomware attack against Florida-based software provider Kaseya, which reportedly affected 1,500 businesses.
According to The Associated Press, The White House updated lawmakers Wednesday on the administration’s response to the recent rash of high-profile ransomware attacks, a threat it has deemed a national security priority.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said he was impressed with the “thoroughness with which they are confronting this issue,” particularly with outreach to the private sector.
-
ITPro Excellence Awards winners unveiledIt's time to celebrate excellence in IT. Read on for the full list of winners...
-
This new mobile compromise toolkit enables spyware, surveillance, and data theftNews The professional package allows even unsophisticated attackers to take full control of devices
-
Ransomware gangs are sharing virtual machines to wage cyber attacks on the cheap – but it could be their undoingNews Thousands of attacker servers all had the same autogenerated Windows hostnames, according to Sophos
-
Google issues warning over ShinyHunters-branded vishing campaigns
News Related groups are stealing data through voice phishing and fake credential harvesting websites
-
The FBI has seized the RAMP hacking forum, but will the takedown stick? History tells us otherwiseNews Billing itself as the “only place ransomware allowed", RAMP catered mainly for Russian-speaking cyber criminals
-
Everything we know so far about the Nike data breachNews Hackers behind the WorldLeaks ransomware group claim to have accessed sensitive corporate data
-
There’s a dangerous new ransomware variant on the block – and cyber experts warn it’s flying under the radarNews The new DeadLock ransomware family is taking off in the wild, researchers warn
-
Salt Typhoon attack on US congressional email system ‘exposes how vulnerable core communications systems remain to nation-state actors’News The Salt Typhoon campaign marks the latest in a string of attacks on US government communications networks
-
Hacker offering US engineering firm data online after alleged breachNews Data relating to Tampa Electric Company, Duke Energy Florida, and American Electric Power was allegedly stolen
-
Cybersecurity experts face 20 years in prison following ransomware campaignTwo men used their tech expertise to carry out ALPHV BlackCat ransomware attacks
