US offers US$10mil rewards to stop foreign ransomware attacks

The State Department said it would pay US$10mil (RM42.02mil) to anyone who can identify or locate a person who attacks US critical infrastructure online ‘while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government’. — Technology photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com

WASHINGTON: The United States on July 15 offered US$10mil (RM42.02mil) rewards for information on online extortionists abroad as it stepped up efforts to halt a sharp rise in ransomware attacks, which US officials say often originate in Russia.

The State Department said it would pay US$10mil (RM42.02mil) to anyone who can identify or locate a person who attacks US critical infrastructure online “while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government”.