- Biden administration plans to announce new approaches to alleviate ransomware attacks.
- As the primary focus is on payments, the US Treasury might suspend cryptocurrency for ransom transactions.20
- New terrorist finance and anti-money regulations will curb using digital coins in illegal activities towards this year’s end.
The Biden government prepares an approach to challenge cybercriminals conducting ransomware attacks using cryptocurrencies. According to the journal by Wall Street, the US Treasury department will introduce sanctions soon.
The US Plans to Curb Illicit Activities Involving Crypto
The United States government plans a move to prevent hackers from utilizing virtual coins to facilitate their payments. Keep in mind that attackers have used cryptocurrencies to hide their identity, threatening national security.
The US Treasury might introduce new sanctions to ban crypto usage in ransomware payments as early as next week. Also, the agency will announce new rules to the market concerning risks related to conducting ransomware payments. The upcoming recommendations include penalties and fines.
The Biden administration positioned itself as a board to mitigate risks associated with ransomware attacks and crypto usage. Keep in mind that cyberattacks have been a challenge in the online business for a while now. Officials noted an increase in ransomware attacks since 2021 started amid the crypto market boom. That might risk crucial infrastructure, including banks and hospitals.
The awaited sanctions target specific areas instead of banning the whole crypto infrastructure utilized to facilitate ransomware transactions. An analyst aware of the subject stated that the treasury would target crypto wallets that receive ransomware payments, crypto trading sites that exchange tokens to elude authorities and hide culprits.
US Colonial Pipeline suffered a hack early this year, and the fraudsters requested 63.7 BTC, worth nearly $2.3 million at that time. Though experts traced the high-profile hack to a criminal group based in Russia, the Biden administration amplified its actions, tackling the expanding ransom attack problems due to the increased hacker payment demands.
Former Treasury official Ari Redbord declared that the upcoming sanctions might target illegal actors instead of the crypto technology. He trusts that virtual tokens are just the transaction option behind the payments.