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U.S. Working with Allies to Make Foreign Crypto Exchanges Report Suspicious Transactions Amid Ransomware Crisis

Wed, 07/07/2021 - 05:02
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Alex Dovbnya
The Biden administration is reportedly planning to ban companies from paying ransomware gangs
U.S. Working with Allies to Make Foreign Crypto Exchanges Report Suspicious Transactions Amid Ransomware Crisis
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According to a July 6 report by CNN, the White House is in the process of finalizing its ransomware-battling strategy.   

It involves working with countries that are part of the Five Eyes alliance to make foreign cryptocurrency exchanges report suspicious transactions to governments.

The National Security Council plans to prohibit companies from paying ransoms while beefing up their cybersecurity.

Some have already criticized the idea of imposing a blanket ban on payments, with Cyber Threat Alliance CEO Michael Daniel pointing out that it would hurt the victims:

Prohibiting payments immediately is not a workable strategy because it will impose too many costs on innocent victims.

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Ransomware has once again become a national issue after a supply-chain attack on Miami-based software company Kaseya crippled up to 1,500 businesses around the world earlier this month.

As reported by U.Today, Russia-linked cybercrime gang REvil—which took credit for the breach—started demanding a $70 million Bitcoin payment for a universal decryptor.

REvil also offers individual victims to pay $45,000 worth of Monero to regain access to their files.    

President Joe Biden is urging the affected companies not to send payments.

The hackers have now lowered the asking price to $50 million, which might be a sign of desperation.

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About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.