The US Offers A $10M Reward For Information On DarkSide Ransomware Group
November 04 2021 - 10:05PM
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Things are getting serious in Fiat-land. The DarkSide saga
continues with a press release from the U.S. Department of State
that offers up to $10M for “information leading to the
identification or location of any individual(s) who hold(s) a key
leadership position in the DarkSide ransomware variant
transnational organized crime group.” Plus, up to $5M for
“information leading to the arrest and/or conviction in any country
of any individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to
participate in a DarkSide variant ransomware incident.” Related
Reading | Monero Featured In Last Week Tonight, Essential Tool In
“Ransomware Economy”? Interesting. As you probably remember, this
group’s software was at the heart of the Colonial Pipeline hack and
ransomware attack. It was never clear who was responsible since
they offer a ransomware-as-a-service platform, but the U.S
Department of State is having none of that. They clearly declare
that: “The DarkSide ransomware group was responsible for the
Colonial Pipeline Company ransomware incident in May 2021, which
led to the company’s decision to proactively and temporarily shut
down the 5,500-mile pipeline that carries 45 percent of the fuel
used on the East Coast of the United States.” Ok, that settles it,
then. Nevertheless, let’s explore. What Is DarkSide, Exactly? To do
this right, we have to quote the people in the know. According to
reporter and computer security expert Brian Krebs: “First surfacing
on Russian language hacking forums in August 2020, DarkSide is a
ransomware-as-a-service platform that vetted cybercriminals can use
to infect companies with ransomware and carry out negotiations and
payments with victims. DarkSide says it targets only big companies,
and forbids affiliates from dropping ransomware on organizations in
several industries, including healthcare, funeral services,
education, public sector and non-profits.” We’re not remotely
suggesting that what they are doing is right. Ransomware attacks
are a crime. And they’re affecting the whole crypto space by using
our coins for nefarious purposes. That being said, there’s
obviously more to this story. Where Does Ransomware Come From,
Exactly? We hate to do this, but the core of ransomware software
comes directly from the NSA. “The hackers are able to use tools
stolen from the NSA, like the Eternal Blue malware, to encrypt all
the files on an infected machine, and then they demand a ransom,
usually in Bitcoin, for the keys to decrypt the data.” That means
as much as each one wants it to mean. A question remains, though.
Why use Bitcoin for this? Each and every transaction is forever
recorded in the blockchain. What criminal wants to leave an
unbreakable trail like this one? BTC price chart for 11/04/2021 on
Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com Will The Reward Work?
Will They Get DarkSide With This? Let’s not kid ourselves, $10M is
a lot of money. The Department of State is not playing around.
However, DarkSide seems to be just an intermediary, they provide
the software for others to use. Or so it seems. Would an arrest
stop ransomware as a whole? Probably not. But it would send a
strong message. How effective are these rewards historically?
The press release says: “More than 75 transnational criminals and
major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under the
TOCRP and the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) since 1986. The
Department has paid more than $135 million in rewards to date.”
Related Reading | Over $5 Billion In BTC Paid In Top 10 Ransomware
Variants, Says U.S. Treasury So, 75 criminals in 35 years, and
$135M in rewards in the same period. That doesn’t seem like a lot.
This could mean that the program is not that effective. It could
also mean that this time they are serious and want immediate
results. Did they fatten the budget just for the DarkSide group? It
seems that’s the case. Let’s keep an eye on the story to see how it
develops. The DarkSide saga continues. Featured Image by
Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay - Charts by TradingView
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