The FBI seized 230 million yen worth of Bitcoin from cybercriminal groups, and the market price of Bitcoin plummeted, saying that 'the security of virtual currency has been shaken'



About 230 million yen worth of Bitcoin paid by the U.S. Department of Justice as a ransom for a ransomware attack targeting Colonial Pipeline, the company that manages the largest oil pipeline in the United States (at the time of writing the article) Announced that the recovery was successful. Following this announcement, it is reported that the market price of Bitcoin has dropped significantly.

Department of Justice Seizes $ 2.3 Million in Cryptocurrency Paid to the Ransomware Extortionists Darkside | OPA | Department of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-seizes-23-million-cryptocurrency-paid-ransomware-extortionists-darkside

Bitcoin (BTC) price slides as US seizes most of Colonial ransom
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/08/bitcoin-btc-price-slides-as-us-seizes-most-of-colonial-ransom.html

Colonial Pipeline, which operates the largest oil transportation pipeline in the United States, was attacked by ransomware by hackers in May 2021 and demanded about 75 BTC of Bitcoin. The CEO of Colonial Pipeline has revealed that he paid Bitcoin as requested. Approximately 75 BTC is equivalent to a total of approximately 4.4 million dollars (approximately 480 million yen) at the rate at the time of the incident.

Oil transport giant CEO says he paid 480 million yen for a ransomware attack-GIGAZINE



The US government has declared an emergency after the country's largest oil pipeline, which can be said to be the lifeline of the country, was forced to shut down due to a ransomware attack. In addition, he announced that he would raise the priority of investigations into ransomware attacks to the same level as terrorism, and promised to form a government-led task force and make every effort to investigate.

The United States raises the priority of responding to ransomware attacks to the same level as terrorism --GIGAZINE


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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI successfully obtained a private key used by a criminal group claiming to be 'Darkside,' tracked Bitcoin remittances, and 63.7 BTC out of 75 BTC paid in ransom (June 2021). It is said that it succeeded in collecting (about 230 million yen) at the rate of 9 days. It is not clear how the FBI obtained the private key.

In addition, Darkside declared on May 17, 2021 that the activity will be suspended, saying that 'the virtual currency that I owned was transferred to an unknown account by someone'.

The group 'DarkSide' that attacked the oil pipeline using ransomware declares 'store closed' --GIGAZINE



'There's no place out of the FBI's reach where malicious cyber-attackers hide illegal money. Stop ransomware attacks, private business partners and Americans,' said FBI Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Paul Abate. We will continue to utilize all resources and domestic and international partnerships to protect ourselves. '

Immediately after the announcement of successful ransom collection, the price of Bitcoin plummeted around midnight on June 9, 2021 Japan time, and temporarily fell below 1 BTC = 32,000 dollars (about 3.5 million yen).



Prices of other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and XRP also fell by 7-8%. The economic media CNBC speculates that the news that 'FBI got the private key and seized Bitcoin' may have reflected in the price of Bitcoin that the security of cryptocurrencies has been shaken. I am.

In the case of Colonial Pipeline, the ransomware was successfully collected because the U.S. government showed seriousness, but there was no sign that a ransomware attack on pipeline-related companies would stop, and a pipeline-related company called LineStar Integrity Services There have also been cases where hackers stole 70GB of internal files and published them on the dark web.



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