The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on virtual currency exchange Suex for its alleged role in facilitating financial transactions for ransomware actors.
The Treasury stated that Suex has facilitated transactions involving illicit proceeds from at least eight ransomware variants, adding that over 40% of its transaction history is associated with illicit actors.
As a result of the sanctions, which are the first designations against a virtual currency exchange, Suex is blocked from accessing all US property, and US citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with it.
The Treasury added that virtual currency exchanges are critical to the profitability of ransomware attacks, which it said help fund additional cybercriminal activity. It will also continue to disrupt and hold accountable these kinds of entities to reduce the incentive for cyber criminals to continue to conduct these attacks.
“Ransomware and cyber attacks are victimizing businesses large and small across America and are a direct threat to our economy. We will continue to crack down on malicious actors,” said Treasury secretary Janet L. Yellen.
“As cyber criminals use increasingly sophisticated methods and technology, we are committed to using the full range of measures, to include sanctions and regulatory tools, to disrupt, deter, and prevent ransomware attacks.”
RELATED RESOURCE
The total economic impact™ of Datto
Cost savings and business benefits of using Datto Integrated Solutions
The move comes as part of the US’ counter-ransomware strategy, which the Treasury said emphasises the need for a collaborative approach to counter ransomware attacks, including partnership between the public and private sector and close relationships with international partners.
This comes after an Iowa based-cooperative, New Cooperative, was hit by a $5.9 million ransom this week after being hit by the BlackMatter group. The group has obtained financial documents, network information, social security numbers, and source code for the company’s farmer technology platform. The attackers are demanding a $5.9 million ransom payment by 25 September.
In June, the Department of Justice (DoJ) recovered 63.7 Bitcoins ($2.3 million) paid out by Colonial Pipeline to the DarkSide ransomware gang. The FBI said it was able to track multiple transfers of Bitcoin and identify them, as they had been transferred to a specific address to which the FBI had a “private key” to access it.
-
Jaguar Land Rover says IT disruption set to continueNews The automotive manufacturer is still not fully operational after the recent cyber attack
-
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says UK ties are 'stronger than ever' as tech giant pledges $30bn investmentNews Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says it's commitment to the UK is "stronger than ever" after the tech giant pledged $30bn to expand AI infrastructure and build a new supercomputer.
-
Prolific ransomware operator added to Europe’s Most Wanted list as US dangles $10 million rewardNews The US Department of Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Volodymyr Viktorovych Tymoshchuk, an alleged ransomware criminal.
-
Jaguar Land Rover “did the right thing” shutting down systems to thwart cyber attackNews The attack on Jaguar Land Rover highlights the growing attractiveness of the automotive sector
-
Ransomware attack on IT supplier disrupts hundreds of Swedish municipalitiesNews The attack on IT systems supplier Miljödata has impacted public sector services across the country
-
A notorious hacker group is ramping up cloud-based ransomware attacksNews The Storm-0501 threat group is refining its tactics, according to Microsoft, shifting away from traditional endpoint-based attacks and toward cloud-based ransomware.
-
Security researchers have just identified what could be the first ‘AI-powered’ ransomware strain – and it uses OpenAI’s gpt-oss-20b modelNews Using OpenAI's gpt-oss:20b model, ‘PromptLock’ generates malicious Lua scripts via the Ollama API.
-
Data I/O shuts down systems in wake of ransomware attack
News Regulatory filings by Data I/O suggest the costs of dealing with the attack could be significant
-
Average ransom payment doubles in a single quarterNews Targeted social engineering and data exfiltration have become the biggest tactics as three major ransomware groups dominate
-
BlackSuit ransomware gang taken down in latest law enforcement sting – but members have already formed a new groupNews The notorious gang has seen its servers taken down and bitcoin seized, but may have morphed into a new group called Chaos
