On June 7, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) stated that investigators succeeded in recovering huge amounts in crypto that were paid in ransom to cybercriminals who attacked the American oil pipeline system Colonial Pipeline.
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CNN was the first to publish the news.The hack took place in May. Colonial Pipeline's CEO told that it made a $4.4 M payment in BTC. DoJ revealed it returned about $2.3 M in BTC paid to participants in a group of hackers knowns as DarkSide. The FBI informed it has been investigating the group which shared its tools with other attackers.
Getting the private key, the agency unlocked a BTC wallet that had received the majority of funds. How they managed to access the key, is unknown.
The ransom recovery is the first seizure managed by the newly formed DOJ digital extortion task force.Ransomware typically targets big organizations and via sending emails to employers locks the system.
DoJ announced recently it gives ransomware attacks the same priority as terrorism. The ransomware issues will be discussed by Joe Biden and other leaders at the summit of the Group of Seven (G-7) which will take place from June 11 to 13.
As said by Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, Biden will also talk about cryptocurrencies' role in the process.