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Bitcoin The Almighty Buck Technology

Hackers Behind Colonial Pipeline Attack Reportedly Received $90 Million In Bitcoin Before Shutting Down (cnbc.com) 60

Posted by BeauHD from the conservative-estimates dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: DarkSide, the hacker group behind the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, received a total of $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments before shutting down last week, according to new research. Colonial Pipeline was hit with a devastating cyberattack earlier this month that forced the company to shut down approximately 5,500 miles of pipeline in the United States, crippling gas delivery systems in Southeastern states. The FBI blamed the attack on DarkSide, a cybercriminal gang believed to be based in Eastern Europe, and Colonial reportedly paid a $5 million ransom to the group.

On Friday, London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said it had identified the bitcoin wallet used by DarkSide to collect ransom payments from its victims. The same day, security researchers Intel 471 said DarkSide had closed down after losing access to its servers and as its cryptocurrency wallets were emptied. DarkSide also blamed "pressure from the U.S.," according to a note obtained by Intel 471. In a blog post Tuesday, Elliptic said DarkSide and its affiliates bagged at least $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments over the past nine months from 47 victims. The average payment from organizations was likely $1.9 million, Elliptic said. "To our knowledge, this analysis includes all payments made to DarkSide, however further transactions may yet be uncovered, and the figures here should be considered a lower bound," said Tom Robinson Elliptic's co-founder and chief scientist.

According to Elliptic, $15.5 million of the $90 million total haul went to DarkSide's developer while $74.7 million went to its affiliates. The majority of the funds are being sent to crypto exchanges, where they can be converted into fiat money, Elliptic added.
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Hackers Behind Colonial Pipeline Attack Reportedly Received $90 Million In Bitcoin Before Shutting Down More

Hackers Behind Colonial Pipeline Attack Reportedly Received $90 Million In Bitcoin Before Shutting Down

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  • According to Elliptic, $15.5 million of the $90 million total haul went to DarkSide's developer while $74.7 million went to its affiliates.

    And thanks to Elon that $90 million became ~$65 million. Heh.

    • You assume they're not cashing it out right away.

  • Not an association that's good for Bitcoin (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Babel-17 ( 1087541 ) on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @05:11PM (#61398054)
    If governments decide to go after bitcoin then we'll be hearing about how sex traffickers get paid in it. Them, and terrorists. Yes, we all know that currency has been used for that as well, I'm noting what I expect to hear in short order, as I think the odds are starting to lean towards favoring a crackdown. Someone with inside knowledge of that happening could maybe turn a nice profit on a crash, especially if they know enforcement won't be much to speak of at first (if ever). They could buy right back in for a few pennies on the dollar. I wonder if those who could profit from that could help bring it about.

  • they weren't forced, they chose to because they couldn't be sure their billing would be accurate...

  • Need a few extrajudicial killings. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by RightSaidFred99 ( 874576 ) on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @05:16PM (#61398066)

    The US (and allies) need to make sure they get the right people, of course, and don't do something as blunt as drone killings but a few assassinations over this wouldn't be remiss. Once they figure out you can't try to cripple a nation state and hide behind what you imagine to be geographic and electronic boundaries I think we'll see less of this shit. They'll still go after some businesses but they'll be a lot more careful in the future.

    • Re: Need a few extrajudicial killings. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by reanjr ( 588767 ) on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @05:23PM (#61398082) Homepage

      Rendition is more effective than assassination. You can't publish stories about how you sent agents to Romania and assassinated a few of its people. You can - on the other hand - publish stories about how you managed to acquire a Romanian and now have them locked in a windowless room for the next decade.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by DudeBlokeLadFellow ( 6206386 )
        Is it really? Do we want to gently take these guys out of circulation and make them disappear, or do we want to make a brutal example of them to discourage possible copy-cats? Criminals may be technically smart, but they're stupid when it comes to working out the odds of being caught. They need to see examples of how it can go badly wrong for them sooner or later, and the public needs the gratification of seeing evil-doers getting what they deserve. Jail time isn't enough for a crime that effects millions o

        • They need to see examples of how it can go badly wrong for them sooner or later, and the public needs the gratification of seeing evil-doers getting what they deserve. Jail time isn't enough for a crime that effects millions of people.

          You could legitimately argument that big pharma has caused way more misery. Still not one person in jail. Instigators of the Great Recession? No jail time there either.

          I think you don’t realize that most American politicians admire the hell out of these guys. The ba

  • if i received 90 million bux i would retire too, go buy a south pacific island and populate it with beautiful brown skinned island girls to serve me pina coladas on the beach while i relax in the sun,
    • Dont forget to spend a few millions buying a couple of Congressmen to protect your ass. That was John McAfees mistake.

    • if i received 90 million bux i would retire too, go buy a south pacific island and populate it with beautiful brown skinned island girls to serve me pina coladas on the beach while i relax in the sun,

      K, thanks for the info.

  • not the hackers. I wish for Colonial's CEO to get sued personally

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Ah, a fellow intellectual who blames the victim. Perhaps his skirt was a little too revealing.

    • They were trying [cnn.com], something of a victim of bad timing (and systems architecture).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kaenneth ( 82978 )

        I wonder if publishing a need for cybersecurity experts is just painting a target on yourself.

      • Bad timing is finding you have a problem one week and getting hit the next week. Not finding out a problem, kinda waving your hands for two years, and then trying to fix it.

  • Remember, kids... crime does pay - and sometimes, very handsomely!

  • If the wallets were drained and crypto converted to fiat currency via crypto exchanges, why can't Interpol identify the perpetrators from the bank accounts?

    • And fire a few dozen tomahawks at the culprits. 90$ million pay day starts looking a lot less interesting if you might be blown into a red mist.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ghoul ( 157158 )
        Each Tomahawk costs upwards of a million. With the number of targets from multiple accounts and fake names you might end up launching 30-40. With other costs like the gas for the planes you are soon reaching a cost of more than 90 million.
        • And have a less people around willing to do the same thing next time. Worth it. Because we're not talking random company sales data that is disrupted, this was critical infrastructure. Act of war kinda shit.

  • Converted to fiat (Score:3)

    by edi_guy ( 2225738 ) on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @06:50PM (#61398330)

    At the end of the day, these 'currencies of the future' still get converted into rubles, or won, or renminbi. Why can't the evil doers just go to the used car lot and buy a Porsche with their winnings? Because Bitcoin and the like are not digital currencies, they are digital derivatives, like frozen orange juice futures. At best.

    At worst their primary function outside of speculation is of course money laundering, with the expectation that there is pseudo-anonymity. And I am hoping that the same, not too exhaustive, techniques used to track these joker's wallets can be automated to quickly identify and zap other ransomware outfits.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cfalcon ( 779563 )

      I mean, it's hard to cash out millions anywhere, especially if you got your currency with the power of crime.

      For me, however, I've never had any issues spending my non-criminally earned bitcoin on newegg. I'm typing on a computer bought with bitcoin right now, in fact.

    • One of the obvious developments, a feature that needs to be integrated in to digital wallets for legitimate cryptocurrency users, is a feature to determine if currency being offered is actually legitimate in origin.

      Let’s suppose, for example, that you’re Tesla Motors and someone steps up and offers you BTC for the most expensive Model S you sell, with all the most expensive options fitted. As the seller of the vehicle, the last thing you want to be doing is the equivalent of “receiving

  • We've been taught all our lives that " Crime doesn't pay ".

    Apparently, we've been lied to as it seems to pay a hell of a lot better than " doing the right thing ". :|

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