Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department is forming a new unit to investigate and prevent hackers from utilizing cryptocurrency exchanges to remain anonymous while extorting money from victims of their attacks.
The new enforcement team's main purpose, according to Monaco, is to take down the infrastructure and "criminal supply chain" that allows hackers to carry out ransomware operations, in which victims' data is frozen until they pay a ransom.
"Cryptocurrency exchanges aspire to be the future's banks," Monaco said at the Aspen Cyber Summit. “We need to ensure that people can trust these technologies when they utilize them.”
According to Monaco, the department has also launched a new cybersecurity fraud campaign focused at prosecuting federal contractors that conceal cybersecurity vulnerabilities or fail to report hacking assaults.
Monaco stated, "We will extract very substantial fines." "We have this tool to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely."
News From Last Week:
Customers of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States were targeted by a large-scale email phishing attempt earlier this year, with thieves able to steal funds from the accounts of over 6,000 users, according to coinbase. The large scale attacks took place in April and May. Systems to prevent fraud have been implemented.
