US government offers $10 million for DarkSide ransomware gang

The FBI and the US State Department promise a $10 million reward for a tip to one of the leaders of the DarkSide ransomware gang. This gang was responsible for, among other things, the attack on Colonial Pipeline.

The US government has introduced two rewards of ten and five million dollars around the DarkSide gang. The first and largest reward revolves around “key individuals” within the DarkSide group. Information leading to the identification or location of such an individual can yield up to EUR 8.7 million.

The second reward revolves around information leading to the arrest or conviction of someone who participated in, or planned to participate in, DarkSide. This tip can yield 4.3 million euros. The tips do not have to revolve around the United States; tips that lead to arrests and convictions outside the US can also be rewarded.

In the message, the US government writes about variants of the DarkSide group. As BleepingComputer notes, such ransomware groups often change names if governments are after them. For example, the DarkSide group has recently launched attacks under the BlackMatter name. BlackMatter said earlier this week that they would stop their activities after ‘government pressure’ and after gang members went missing. So BlackMatter members also fall under the rewards that the government has introduced.

DarkSide is most notorious for attacking Colonial Pipeline. This oil pipeline runs on the east coast of the United States and supplies almost half of the American east coast with oil. The attack in May brought this pipeline to a standstill and caused crowds at gas stations, among others. The hackers wanted 75 bitcoin; The US Department of Justice was previously able to recover the vast majority of these. Then 63.7 bitcoin was right, good for 1.89 million euros at the time.