In an announcement made on May 5th, the US Department of Justice described its successful operation on the DarkSide, a hacking group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline attack. The seizure, apparently the first of its kind, resulted in the recovery of 63.7 bitcoins, valued at around $2.3 million, that represents Colonial Pipeline’s ransom payment to the group. The DOJ worked with the FBI’s cyber division, and other agencies to trace and track the payment from the compromised Bitcoin wallet. The government officials confirmed that the FBI had seized the password to the wallet earlier this week, indicating that they may have had the wallet’s private key for weeks. The operation was part of a broader US initiative against ransomware attacks, which have escalated in recent months. The Biden administration has also highlighted the financial burden and national security risks associated with these attacks. According to experts, the US Government’s success in seizing the cryptocurrency payment may have an impact on the ransomware ecosystem, sending a strong message to criminal groups that the US government might be able to track their cryptocurrency payments.
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