US To Sanction Ransomware Payments With Crypto

The Biden administration might issue the sanctions as soon as next week.

New Measures Against Hackers

The Treasury Department aims to make it difficult for hackers to profit from ransomware attacks and cryptocurrencies. Reportedly, the authorities will introduce the sanctions and guidelines as early as next week. 

While the measures are not yet clear, they will include penalties such as fines for businesses that cooperate with hackers and use digital currencies as payment. In order not to disrupt the crypto ecosystem, the authorities will be targeting specific traders and exchanges. 

The idea behind the measures is to scare exchange platforms from processing such transactions. Organizations that have enabled ransomware payments before will also be facing penalties.

Ari Redbord, a former Treasury Department official explained: “An action of this kind would be an aggressive, proactive approach to going after those who facilitate ransomware payments.”

This is Biden’s most recent move against ransomware attacks. 

The Statistics

Cybercrime is definitely on the rise. Statistics show that:

• More than 4,000 ransomware attacks happen daily.
• Due to COVID-19, such cases have spiked by 150%. 
• Cyberattacks, in general, have risen by up to 400% since the pandemic started.

The first step to prevention is a good antivirus software.