Microsoft helps Feds partially recover Colonial Pipeline ransom
The power of teamwork prevails yet again.
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What you need to know
Remember whenColonial Pipelinepaid out nearly $5 million to hackers back in May? Well, that whole fiasco just got a spicy new twist: The FBI has managed to yoink back over $2 million of the extorted money with an assist from Microsoft.
As reported byNBC News, the FBI got access to DarkSide’s central account, which had roughly 63.7 bitcoins in it — otherwise known as $2.3 million. As to how this specific feat was achieved, you’ll have to guess for yourself. The fine details are shrouded in mystery as the FBI doesn’t want to reveal its methods for this particular operation.
However, two details about the operation should give you a vague idea of how the FBI pulled it off. First, there’s the fact that a lot of internet infrastructure exists within the United States, wherein the Feds can use warrants to poke and prod wherever they want. And second, the FBI didn’t go it alone: Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center helped out.
How the Threat Intelligence Center specifically aided efforts has not been divulged, but given that it’s known for keeping tabs on ransomware groups, the connection isn’t hard to make.
The fact that the FBI was able to reclaim cryptocurrency from the hackers does raise questions about how secure the new form of finance is. You may have thebest GPUs for crypto mining(like theRTX 3060 Ti) and be keen onearning passive crypto income, but make no mistake, it’s just money like any other, meaning if you don’t play fair with it, there’s a good chance the Feds will come for you.
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Microsoft declined to comment on this story.
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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.
