The US State Department has put forward two offers in pursuit of information regarding ‘DarkSide’ Colonial Pipeline hackers.

According to Reuters, The US State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million on Thursday for information leading to the identity or location of anyone with a major leadership position in DarkSide, a cybercrime organization based in Russia, according to the FBI.

Additionally, the Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of anybody conspiring to participate in or attempt to participate in a DarkSide variant ransomware event in any country.

Breaking 911 reports: The DarkSide ransomware group was responsible for the Colonial Pipeline Company ransomware incident in May 2021, prompting the company to proactively and temporarily shut down the 5,500-mile pipeline that transports 45 percent of the gasoline used on the East Coast of the United States. 

The United States is demonstrating its commitment to defending ransomware victims all across the world from cyber criminals by offering this award. The United States looks to countries that host ransomware perpetrators and are willing to deliver justice to those who have been harmed by ransomware.

The Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is offering this incentive (TOCRP).

The TOCRP is managed by the Department in close collaboration with our federal law enforcement partners as part of a larger government effort to disrupt and destroy transnational organized crime, including cybercrime, around the world. Since 1986, the TOCRP and the Drugs Rewards Program (NRP) have brought to justice more than 75 international offenders and major narcotics traffickers. To date, the Department has given out almost $135 million in awards.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Karl Donaldson

Karl Donaldson is an editor and writer for NRN. Partial to his two cats, he lives in New Hampshire with his wife and a veritable menagerie of his wife's creatures.

Latest posts by Karl Donaldson (see all)

• US Offers $10M Reward To For Info On ‘DarkSide’ Colonial Pipeline Hackers - November 5, 2021
• Vax to Work! The New ‘Jab Crow’ Laws - June 2, 2021
• Micro$oft: “Where Do We Want You to Go Today?” - March 29, 2021