By Nathan Ferguson
Three federal institutions based in the US, taking into account the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), mutually released an advisory pursuing the information to catch the ransomware attackers.
FBI Looks for the Details of the Ransomware Attackers’ BTC Wallets
As included in the campaign focused on stopping the ransomware attacks, the mutual cybersecurity advisory cautioned the residents regarding Vice Society (known as a ransomware-type project) through which the data of the targets is encrypted by the bad actors, and a ransom is demanded its decryption.
The above-mentioned three agencies predict a considerable upsurge in the attacks carried out through ransomware, particularly aimed at educational organizations. They also mentioned that the school districts which have limited abilities regarding cybersecurity, as well as restricted resources, appear to be extremely vulnerable.
Along with the importance of proactive actions to confront the ransomware attacker, United States residents were advised on the behalf of the FBI to report the information through which assistance could be provided in tracking the hackers’ whereabouts. The respective information takes into account the ransom notes, the details of the Bitcoin wallet, as well as the IP addresses associated with the attackers.
U.S. Security Agencies to Backtrack Illegitimate Transfers via Wallet Addresses
With the utilization of the wallet addresses, the illegal transfers carried out on the immutable blockchain of Bitcoin could be backtracked by the authorities without being afraid of the trail getting cold. Though smooth transfers are offered by Bitcoin across borders, the majority of attackers preferably utilize traditional currencies to get their illegal operations funded.
The findings also brought to the front that just 0.15% of the operations related to blockchains were linked with criminal activities in the previous year. A consistent decrease occurs in this percentage year on year. In addition to this, the 3 federal organizations resiliently dissuade the citizens of the country from recompensing the ransom because there is no guarantee that the victim would get the recovery of the encrypted files after the payment.
The victims of such ransomware attacks call persuaded to report the facts of the incidents by visiting the nearest office of the FBI or via its formal channels for communication. Recently, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service approached the wallets linked to a ransomware attack that targeted Maastricht University (UM) in the Netherland.