US offers $ 10 million reward for DarkSide hackers

USA announced Thursday a $ 10 million reward to help find the leaders of the high-profile ransomware (data hijacking) ring DarkSide, the latest attempt by authorities to combat cyber extortion attacks.

Washington blamed the Russia-based group for the online attack that forced the shutdown of the largest oil pipeline in the eastern United States in May.

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Ransomware attacks are made by exploiting security gaps of a company or an individual to encrypt and lock their computer systems and then demand a ransom to unlock them.

By offering this reward, USA demonstrates its commitment to protecting ransomware victims around the world ”, the State Department explained a statement.

Washington also offered a $ 5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction, in any country, of those attempting to join DarkSide in carrying out an attack.

Despite the temptation of the money offered, some cybersecurity experts believe that the rewards are not effective in exposing hackers.

“Without a bounty hunter willing to travel to his jurisdiction (that of a hacker, ndlr), bag his unconscious body, and then drop it off at the nearest US embassy, ​​I doubt this will have much of an impact.”said John Bambenek of Netenrich, a security operations and information technology company.

“To be honest“, He adds, offer this reward”it won’t hurt either. “

Cybercrime is on the rise. According to new data released in October in the first half of 2021, US authorities were notified of $ 590 million in payments related to ransomware.

The figure is 42% higher than in all of 2020, according to a report from the US Treasury, and there are strong indicators that the real cost is likely in the billions.

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Deshawn