US State Dept. offering $10 million reward for tips on cyber-criminals

The US Department of State is offering up to a $10 million (USD) reward for anyone who can offer information that leads to the identification and capture of those that attack US businesses with ransomware.

As part of a two-pronged approach to help businesses tackle the growing threat of ransomware and extortionware, the US Department of State has announced the expansion of the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program to include information on cybercriminals.

The RFJ program is a scheme in the US where people can submit information about known terrorists or criminals and get pay-outs for doing so.

The RFJ program will now offer rewards to help incentivize people to offer information about ransomware operators across the globe. The top reward is a staggering $10 million – presumably held for those that can offer information that would directly lead US authorities to the operators behind prolific ransomware gangs such as CLOP and REvil.

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From the Rewards for Justice website –

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

It could prove to be a tempting offer for those that know about ransomware operators but for various reasons have thus far not been compelled to offer that information to authorities.

The other step taken by the US Department of State is the creation of the StopRansomware.gov website (part of CISA) full of information on how to mitigate the effects of ransomware, including helpful advice, resources and the latest alerts.

Ransomware attacks against the US and its allies have become increasingly prolific, with crooks targeting progressively loftier targets including recently the US Colonial Pipeline and the Kaseya supply-chain attack that resulted in thousands of US businesses becoming infected with malware.