US Department of Homeland Security: More than 500 cryptocurrency ransomware attacks thwarted in 3 years

On October 7, US Department of Homeland Security investigators said they had thwarted hundreds of Ransomware cyberattacks and seized billions of ransomware cryptocurrencies since 2021.

 

Mike Prado, Deputy Assistant Director of the Cybercrime Center of the US Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), stated in a report on October 4th that US government entities were the main targets, accounting for 21% of the attacks, surpassing any commercial sector. Since its establishment in 2021, the department has prevented 537 Ransomware attacks and tracked and seized cryptocurrency worth $4.30 billion on exchanges and hacker devices, which were stolen through extortion payments.

 

HIS is taking a proactive approach to preventing Ransomware attacks by closely monitoring the constantly changing strategies used by cybercriminals and criminals. Proxies analyze internet traffic, look for signs of malicious activity, and monitor software vulnerabilities that Ransomware groups can exploit to exploit the organization's security. The goal is to discover when an attack occurs (in some cases before it occurs) and prevent it.