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- Justice delivered and ransomware recovered
- DarkSide hacker group had carried out the ransomware attack
- New technology will make it even more difficult to swindle ordinary Americans
US investigators have been successful in recovering millions in cryptocurrency paid as ransom to hackers who managed to attack the East Coast pipeline last month. The attack led to the shutting down of the East Coast pipeline last month leading to severe fuel outages.
FBI operation recovers millions paid as ransomware
The Justice Department announced on Monday that an FBI operation was carried out with cooperation from Colonial Pipeline. The operation was able to recover millions in cryptocurrency paid as ransom after the company fell victim to the ransomware attack.
A criminal hacking group known as DarkSide had carried out the ransomware attack and Colonial Pipeline had paid approximately $2.3 million in Bitcoins as ransom to the group. The amount paid as ransom has been successfully recovered according to a statement by Justice Department. An investigation by the FBI has revealed that DarkSide has been sharing malware tools with other criminal hackers for over a year.
The operation was carried out by the recently created DOJ digital extortion task force and it is the first seizure and recovery of ransom by the task force. It is for the first time that authorities have been able to recover the ransom for a company that has become victim to a devastating cyberattack in the thriving criminal business of ransomware.
Colonial Pipeline Co paid a $4.4 million ransom demand
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Colonial Pipeline Co. CEO Joseph Blount revealed that the company had complied with the $4.4 million ransom demand since officials were not in a position to know the extent of intrusion by the hackers nor did they have any idea of how much time it will take for the restore operation.
However, the company immediately notified the FBI and thereafter followed the instructions of the Federal Agency. This helped authorities to identify the wallet used by the hackers. In all probability, the hackers were based in Russia.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announcing the DOJ’s success revealed that following the money trail is one of the most potent tools. Ransom demands and successful extraction is what keeps the digital extortion engine running. With today’s success, such hackers who are safely cocooned in countries with conniving governments are no longer safe. The US government with its agencies will make such operations by criminals very costly and unsustainable.
The anonymity of cryptocurrencies makes it an ideal tool for hackers to extort ransom. However, new financial technologies to anonymize payments will not provide a curtain from behind which criminals will be allowed to pick the pockets of hard working Americans.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
