The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, engages in certain malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
The ALPHV BlackCat ransomware as a service group compromised computer networks of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and worldwide, deploying ransomware on the targeted systems, disabling security features within the victim’s network, stealing sensitive confidential information, demanding payment to restore access, and threatening to publicize the stolen data if victims do not pay a ransom.
The group’s ransomware, also known as ALPHV BlackCat, was first deployed in November 2021. ALPHV BlackCat operated as a ransomware as a service business model in which the group’s members developed and maintained the ransomware variant and then recruited affiliates to deploy the ransomware.
ALPHV BlackCat and its affiliates then shared any paid ransoms. Since its inception in 1984, RFJ has paid in excess of $250 million to more than 125 people across the globe who provided actionable information that helped resolve threats to U.S. national security.
