The U.S. State Department on Thursday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about DarkSide, a cybercrime organization in Russia.
The FBI has said DarkSide was responsible for the May cyber attack targeting the Colonial Pipeline, causing a days-long shutdown that led to a spike in gas prices, panic buying and localized fuel shortages in the U.S. Southeast.
The State Department also said it is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of any person attempting to participate in a DarkSide ransomware incident.
“In offering this reward, the United States demonstrates its commitment to protecting ransomware victims around the world from exploitation by cyber criminals,” the department said in a statement.
The Department has paid more than $135 million in rewards to date.
For more information on the ransomware variant listed above and the TOCRP and NRP, please see Department of State INL AntiCrime Rewards Program.
Colonial Pipeline has said it paid the hackers nearly $5 million in Bitcoin to regain access to its systems. The U.S. Justice Department in June recovered about $2.3 million of the ransom.
The State Department in July offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participated in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure.