United States State Department reveals $10 million bounty after Costa Rica ransomware attack

In the wake of an enormous ransomware attack on the Costa Rican federal government in April, the United States federal government released a notification recently stating a bounty possibly worth countless dollars on individuals included with the Conti ransomware utilized in the hack. Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Costa Rica’s just recently sworn-in president, stated a nationwide emergency situation due to the attack, according to CyberScoop

According to BleepingComputer, the ransomware attack impacted Costa Rica’s ministries of financing and Labor and Social Security, along with the nation’s Social Development and Family Allowances Fund, to name a few entities. The report likewise states that the attack impacted some services from the nation’s treasury beginning on April 18 th. Hackers not just removed a few of the federal government’s systems, however they’re likewise dripping information, according to CyberScoop, which keeps in mind that nearly 700 GB of information has actually made its method onto Conti’s website.

The United States State Department states the attack “significantly affected the nation’s foreign trade by interrupting its customizeds and taxes platforms” and provides “as much as $10 million for details resulting in the recognition and/or area” of the organizers behind Conti. The United States federal government is likewise providing $5 million for details “resulting in the arrest and/or conviction of any specific in any nation conspiring to take part in or trying to take part” in a Conti-based ransomware attack.

Last year, the United States provided comparable bounties on REvil and DarkSide(the group behind the Colonial Pipeline attack). REvil is mainly believed to be defunct after the United States supposedly hacked the group’s servers and the Russian federal government declared to have actually apprehended a number of members

The Costa Rican federal government isn’t the only entity to come down with Conti’s ransomware. As Krebs On Security notes, the group is especially notorious for targeting health care centers such as healthcare facilities and research study.

The gang is likewise understood for having its chat logs dripped after it stated that it completely supported Russia’s federal government soon after the intrusion of Ukraine started. According to CNBC, those logs revealed that the group behind the ransomware itself was having organizational concerns– individuals weren’t making money, and there were arrests occurring. Like lots of ransomware operators, the real software application was likewise utilized by “affiliates,” or other entities who utilized it to bring out their own attacks.

In Costa Rica’s case, the opponent declares to be among these affiliates and states that they aren’t part of a bigger group or federal government, according to a message published by CyberScoop They have, nevertheless, threatened to perform “more major” attacks, calling Costa Rica a “demonstration variation.”