US govt offers $10 million reward for info on nation-state cyber operations

The US government is offering a $10 million reward to everyone that provides information on operations conducted by nation-state actors.

The US government is offering a $10 million reward for information on campaigns conducted by state-sponsored hackers.

The move was announced by the U.S. Department of State, the US agency states that its Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program will reward reports of malicious activity against U.S. critical infrastructure conducted by nation-state actors.

The US government is inviting people to provide details that can help authorities in identifying and locating people involved in cyber operations conducted by foreign governments against US infrastructure.

“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, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).” states the announcement published by Department of State.

Malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure include ransomware attacks, intentional unauthorized access to a computer or exceeding authorized access to gather sensitive and secret information, and intentionally damaging a protected computer.

“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.” continues the announcement. “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 Rewards for Justice program has set up a Tor-based website to allow individuals to report information about cyber operations, below is the onion address of the hidden service:

http://he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion

To receive the information in a secure fashion and to protect the safety of potential sources, the Department of State set up a tips-reporting service on the dark web:

The Dark Web site set up by RFJ is powered by SecureDrop, a platform that allows to anonymously share information.

The rewards under the RFJ program may also be in cryptocurrency to protect the anonymity of the people that provides information useful to the US authorities.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, $10 million reward)

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