The U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) has seized $500K in ransom costs and cryptoforeign money from a state-sponsored North Korean group. “We’re returning the stolen funds to the sufferers,” Deputy Lawyer Widespread Lisa O. Monaco said, including thOn the seized funds embrace ransoms paid by well being care suppliers in Kansas and Colorado.
DOJ Seizes Crypto From North Korean State-Backed Group
The U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced Tuesday that it has seized and forfeited roughly $500K from North Korean ransomware actors and their conspirators. The department added that it has filed a grievance “Inside the District of Kansas to forfeit cryptoforeign money paid as ransom to North Korean hackers or completely differentwise used to launder such ransom costs.”
The DOJ said:
In Might 2022, the FBI filed a sealed seizure warrant for the funds worth roughly half A million dollars. The seized funds embrace ransoms paid by well being care suppliers in Kansas and Colorado.
Deputy Lawyer Widespread Lisa O. Monaco reiterated Tuesday On the Worldwide Convention on Cyber Safety 2022, “We seized roughly half A million dollars in ransom costs and cryptoforeign money used to launder these costs.” She added: “As a Outcome of of speedy reporting and cooperation from a sufferer, the FBI and Justice Division prosecutors have disrupted the actions of a North Korean state-sponsored group deploying ransomware Usually acknowledged as ‘Maui.’”
Final yr, the North Korean group encrypted a Kansas medical center’s servers used to “retailer essential knowledge and function key gear,” Monaco detailed. The attackers demanded ransom, which the hospital paid.
The FBI and Justice Division prosecutors traced the ransom cost by way of the blockchain. “The …….