- The US Government grabs servers and domains belonging to Blacksuit
- More than $ 1 million allegedly picked up as a result
- Blacksuit stole more than $ 370 million in the last three years
As the US government continues to run the notorious Blacksuit (Royal) Ransomware Group, new information has claimed that more than $ 1 million in cryptocurrency was confiscated from the threat actors.
Several US law enforcement authorities, including Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, are involved in the dismantling of Blacksuit, a Russian Ransomware group that has allegedly attacked more than 450 US-based companies and stole more than $ 370 million in cryptocurrency since 2022.
The US government has said its operations resulted in seizures of servers, domains and digital assets used to implement ransomware, extinguishing victims and money laundering proceeds – among other things $ 1,091,453 coins are valued at the time of theft.
How much was really confiscated?
“Royal victims are typically required to pay ransom in BTC by accessing a Darknet site. On or around April 4, 2023, a victim paid a ransom of 49,3120227 Bitcoin to decrypt their data,” the message reads.
“This ransom was worth $ 1,445,454.86 at the time of the transaction. Part of these revenue ($ 1,091,453) was repeatedly deposited and withdrawn in a virtual currency account until the funds were frozen by this exchange on January 9, 2024.”
A million dollars value of crypto would mean crook tried to launder 38.7 Bitcoin at that time. When it was frozen, on January 9, 2024, it was already worth $ 1.78 million, and at pressing time the same amount of Bitcoin equals $ 4.6 million.
Given the decentralized and unchanging nature of cryptocurrency, it is commendable to retrieve any amount. However, this for Blacksuit, which stole hundreds of millions, is just a fall in the sea.
Since no arrests have been made, it is only a matter of time before the Blacksuit restores its infrastructure and continues to create destruction throughout business.
Via Techcrunch
