US and UK governments agree to “strengthen focus on illegal use of cryptocurrencies”
2 min read“The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have agreed and agreed to strengthen their focus on the illegal use of cryptocurrencies and ransomware,” the U.S. Department of Justice said. According to the FBI, high cryptocurrency prices have made ransomware incredibly lucrative for criminals.
Governments are working together to prevent the illegal use of cryptocurrencies
The US Department of Justice announced that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and officials from the National Security and Criminal Services Department met with British Home Secretary Priti Patel in Washington.
“The two governments have discussed their close cooperation against the numerous threats to the collective security of their countries, including the fight against terrorism, cybercrime and illegal financing,” the Department of Justice said:
Both have pledged to strengthen their focus on the illegal use of cryptocurrencies and ransomware and to continue the dialogue on emerging threats to national security.
The US government is trying to fight ransomware attacks. In October, Monaco announced the launch of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, an initiative of the Department of Justice aimed at tackling the “illegal use of cryptocurrencies.” That same month, President Joe Biden said the United States would unite 30 countries to stop “illegal use of cryptocurrency.”
At a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee last week, Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, noted that high cryptocurrency prices support criminal networks. The hearing was part of a congressional investigation into ransomware attacks on major American companies this year, such as Colonial Pipeline Co. and the US division of JBS Foods.
“In the last six months, we have not seen a decrease in the frequency of ransomware attacks. We attribute this to the simple fact that it is incredibly lucrative for criminals. This is partly because of the appreciation of the virtual currency, but partly because of the vulnerability of our systems and our infrastructure. ”
Global efforts lead to better results
In September, the US Treasury Department closed the cryptocurrency exchange for the first time as part of a nationwide anti-ransomware effort. Suex was allegedly responsible for washing the ransom.
Another crypto exchangw was closed earlier last month. Chatex allegedly mediated “financial transactions for ransomware actors”. The head of the cyber security office, Inglis, said last week that the closure was the result of cooperation between countries.
In October, coordinated cooperation between Europol, Interpol and the FBI led to the arrest of two ransomware operators allegedly responsible for ransom demands of up to € 70 million.
