Ned Price, a US State Department spokesman confirmed on May 6 that the United States is offering rewards up to $15 million for anyone who has information about Conti ransomware group based in Russia.
The rewards are broken down as follows: “identification and/or location” of key members of the group will be $10 million, whereas information that could lead to authorities arresting contributors to the “Conti variant ransomware incident” could get $5 million.
Price confirmed that “In offering this reward, the United States demonstrates its commitment to protecting potential ransomware victims around the world from exploitation by cyber criminals.” The Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program of the State Department is offering the aforementioned rewards.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assesses that over 1,000 victims have paid the Conti organization over $150 million in ransomware payments, deeming its ransomware variation the most expensive ever recorded.
CNBC reported in April that Conti had been harmed by leaks of information about its size, structure, and business activities, and the source code for its ransomware, which appeared to be some sort of payback given that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was supported by the ransomware group.
In addition, last month Bleeping Computer claimed that Bumblebee, a new malware loader, was likely the most recent creation of the Conti organization, substituting the BazarLoader backdoor for ransomware payloads distribution.
As per researchers, the debut of Bumblebee in phishing attempts overlapped with a decline in the use of BazarLoader for distributing file-encrypting malware.