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Informants who want to make quick bulk in cryptocurrency now have the opportunity. The US State Department offers rewards for people who’ll share information on hackers operating on the dark web.
The government sees their activities as a threat to the United States. As such, it is setting aside a total of $10 million to anyone willing to sell them out.
According to the information, the program is called “RFJ (Reward for Justice),” and anyone who identifies or locates hackers will benefit from the bounty.
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The hackers are described as anyone carrying out malicious cyber activities targeting the US infrastructure under the direction of any foreign government.
The RFJ Program Exist To Prevent Crime
The RFJ program has been existing since 1984. The US government has been paying out millions to informants under the program.
According to our sources, the government has spent at least $150 million on more than 100 informants who gave actionable information that stopped international terrorism.
In addition, there have been positive results from the program as it has led to the conviction of many criminals.
Apart from terrorism, the program cuts across ransomware issues, North Korea threats, terrorism financing, weapons of mass destruction, etc. From all indications, the activities of the dark web hackers are categorized under malicious cyber activities.
According to the State Department official, the program is very beneficial as it encourages many people to help in improving national security.
Many of these informants have received money earlier through suitcases filled with cash or through money transfers. But now, the department wants to explore cryptocurrencies as a means of paying out the rewards.
Why Cryptocurrency For The Program
The sources disclosed that the program is considering the crypto payment option to ensure efficiency and speed in payment.
The crypto market rose above the $1.9 trillion a few prior and now the market seems to trade sideways | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com
The crypto mechanism makes it easier to reach people faster. But, according to a former prosecutor in the US Justice Department, Erez Liebermann, the government should have been using Cryptocurrencies to pay its undercover sources or informants even before now.
Apart from Liebermann, many cryptocurrency advocates are happy about the news. Cryptocurrency supporters such as Neeraj Agrawal stated that they suspect that law enforcement agencies have been utilizing cryptocurrencies.
So, they are happy that the government is now showing interest in the sector and how beneficial it is to the economy.
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But even with all the benefits of the technology, the Biden administration is aware of its risks. That’s why the government set up a task force to trace cryptocurrency payments in cyber-attacks.
There has been a lot of issues in the United States involving ransomware attacks. That’s why the Biden administration is fighting to bring hackers down.
For instance, two deadly ransomware attacks, the JBS and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shook the US this summer.
A few months back, a group called DarkSide stole more than $90 million from Colonial Pipeline in the attack.
After one month, another company JBS lost $11 million to attackers. This is why the bounty has become a necessity to curb the activities of these wicked actors.
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView.com
