The White House is sending millions of dollars to countries hit by massive cyberattacks

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White House donates millions to governments in countries hit by devastating malware (opens in new tab) attack.

After donating $25 million to Albania in September 2022, the Biden administration decided to donate an equal amount to Costa Rica.

“It will support the efforts of the Costa Rican government to secure its networks and protect its critical infrastructure,” the official said. “This reflects the President’s broader commitment to supporting our partners’ efforts to build a secure, open and trusted digital infrastructure around the world.”

direct request

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chavez sent a “direct request” for financial aid to US President Joe Biden after being hit by Conti ransomware in 2022.

The attack saw operators attack critical infrastructure in the country, bring nearly the entire government to a screeching halt, tax collection systems were affected, and medical appointments were disrupted as Conti snatched over 670GB of sensitive data. was broken.

The U.S. government has announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification or location of Conti’s leadership, which could also lead to the arrest and/or conviction of anyone attempting to participate in Conti’s ransomware attack. announced that it will pay an additional $5 million to those who are sexually active. .

It’s also worth mentioning that Conti is from Russia. In the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the attackers openly sided with the Kremlin, threatening to pursue anyone who dared attack Russian infrastructure or the war effort. What the US government bounty could not have done, other cybercriminals did out of sheer sympathy for Ukraine.

Conti’s source code was quickly leaked online, along with thousands of chat logs, ultimately leading to the group’s disbandment.

Meanwhile, last year’s cyber attack on Albania was carried out by attackers backed by the Iranian government. After this incident, Albania cut all diplomatic ties with Iran, resulting in the US government imposing sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Information.

“Clearly, in the current situation, we recognize the importance of supporting the security of our allies and partners in the context of our work in assisting our European allies and partners from Russian cyberattacks, and China Latin America also plays an important role in it in the context of wider competition with the United States,” the official concluded.

Via: Cyberscoop (opens in new tab)

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