The US State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of malicious actors acting under control of a foreign government who target the country’s critical infrastructure.
“Certain malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure may violate the CFAA. Violations of the statute may include transmitting extortion threats as part of ransomware attacks intentional unauthorized access to a computer or exceeding authorized access and thereby obtaining information from any protected computer; and knowingly causing the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causing damage without authorization to a protected computer,” the statement reads.
“Protected computers include not only U.S. government and financial institution computer systems, but also those used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or communication.”
The reward is offered through the State Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which also provides a specialized Tor-based website (he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad[.]onion) to receive anonymous tips.
“Possible relocation and rewards payments by cryptocurrency may be available to eligible sources,” the authorities said.
