DarkSide (hacker group)

History

2021: Payment of bonuses for information on DarkSide

In early November 2021, the US Department of State offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about a hacker group known as DarkSide. She is credited with a cyber attack on a vital fuel pipeline 8.8 thousand km long on the east coast of the United States.

DarkSide members specialize in assisted attacks ransomware (ransomware). From the beginning of 2020 to November 2021, the gang was one of the most prolific in a very crowded field of criminal hackers, culminating in an attack on, Colonial Pipeline which caused a temporary gas shortage on the East Coast of the United States due to the fact that 45% of fuel is transported through this pipeline. Soon after, the DarkSide went into the shadows, presumably due to increased attention.

The State Department announced a reward of $10 million for information about hackers who hacked the Colonial Pipeline

The US Department of State offered a reward of up to $10 million to anyone who has information that will help identify or locate the leadership of the hacker group DarkSide, as well as up to $5 million for information that will lead to the arrest or conviction of DarkSide affiliates. This solution is not simple, but the US government has no other options for combating ransomware viruses, the first step is to exert more pressure on the most famous groups from the world of cybercrime. Elliptic, which analyzes cryptocurrencies, estimated that DarkSide received at least $90 million in ransom from 47 of its victims. However, US authorities said that 63.7 Bitcoin, which is most of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline, was returned.

$10 million is the biggest reward ever offered for arresting a particular cybercrime. Prior to this, the shameful record belonged to the alleged organizer of another gang called EvilMaxim Yakubets with the assistance of the British authorities in 2019. In 2017, the record amount of remuneration was $3 million for another alleged leader of cybercrime named Yevgeny Bogachev. Thus, despite the huge sums offered by the United States, the chances of these criminals appearing in court are slim.^[1]

Notes