The US Department of Justice has confiscated over $500,000 worth of cryptocurrencies and fiat currency from North Korean hackers linked to the North Korean government. Following the seizure of the assets, the authorities returned them to the victims, which included some health care institutions in the United States.
The US Justice Department made an announcement stating that it had collaborated with the FBI to investigate the activities of a North Korean hacking group that forced a hospital in Kansas to make a ransomware payment of $100,000 in Bitcoin. The Kansas hospital made the payment in order to regain access to their systems.
The hackers also received a payment of $120,000 in Bitcoin from a medical services provider based in Colorado.
Duston Slinkard, a US attorney for the US Attorney General’s Office, stated that
“These sophisticated criminals are constantly pushing their boundaries to find ways to extort money from victims by forcing them to pay ransoms to regain control of their computer and recording systems.”
He added, “What these hackers are not counting on is the tenacity of the US Department of Justice to recover these funds and return them to their rightful owners.”
At the International Cybersecurity Conference, Lisa Monaco, US Deputy Attorney General, stressed the importance of victims of ransomware attacks promptly reporting the crime “as soon as those crimes take place”:
“If you report that attack, if you report the ransom demand and payment, if you cooperate with the FBI, we can take action; we can track the money and get it back; we can help prevent the next attack, the next victim; and we can hold cybercriminals to account. The companies that work with us will see us assist them in the aftermath of an incident. “
If you would like to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
