The Department of Justice on 07-June-2021 declared that it has seized 63.7 bitcoins presently valued at about $2.3 million. These funds signify the proceeds of a May 8, ransom payment to individuals in a set identified as DarkSide. He had targeted Colonial Pipeline, causing critical infrastructure to be taken out of operation.

Seizure warrant was sanctioned by the Honorable Laurel Beeler-

Colonial CEO Joseph Blount told the Wall Street Journal last month that he sanctioned the ransom payment of $4.4 million. Since the company was uncertain how badly the cyberattack had breached its systems.

Colonial Pipeline mentioned in a statement that “the FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the world and we are grateful for their swift work and professionalism in responding to this event.” The CEO specified that Colonial’s outreach to federal investors was vital to the outcome.

We “quietly and quickly contacted the local FBI field offices in Atlanta and San Francisco, and prosecutors in Northern California and Washington, D.C., to share with them what we knew at that time,” the Colonial declaration mentioned Blount as having said.

The cyberattack was an important one in the U.S. because Colonial functions as the largest refined-products pipeline in the country. It extends more than 5,500 miles and transports more than 100 million gallons, or 2.5 million barrels, of fuel a day to clients from Houston to the New York Harbor.

The provisional energy-market disruption fueled doubts of an extended pipeline shutdown that could have suggestively curtailed refinery activity. It had weighed on immediate oil futures relative to later contracts, analysts mentioned.

The seizure of the funds was led by Ransomware and Digital Extortion Tax Force, Monaco stated at the news conference. She thought it was the first such seizure by the recently formed body, formed to coordinate federal efforts in undertaking growing cyberattack pressures in the U.S.

Ransomware attacks have been on the rise since a moment ago, with several high-profile and critical infrastructure firms. In her first remarks, Monaco warned companies to take steps nearly to secure their systems or risk falling victim.

Shivangi Mujumdar

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA