Security News > 2021 > September > Suex to be you: Feds sanction cryptocurrency exchange for handling payments from 8+ ransomware variants

The US Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned virtual cryptocurrency exchange Suex OTC for handling financial transactions for ransomware operators, an intervention that's part of a broad US government effort to disrupt online extortion and related cyber-crime.

According to the US Treasury, more than 40 per cent of the firm's known transaction history involves illicit entities, and that it handled payments from at least eight ransomware variants.

Crypto-coin forensics outfit Chainalysis claims Suex has received more than $160m in Bitcoin since 2018 from ransomware and other illicit operations.

The US Treasury Department says that in 2020, ransomware payments surpassed $400m, more than four times the total in 2019.

In April, the Justice Department assembled its Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force and the industry-driven Institute for Security and Technology's Ransomware Task Force published a report for policy makers with four dozen recommendations.

According to the Washington Post, the FBI withheld the key for three weeks while it planned a counter-strike on REvil, the Russia-based ransomware gang said to have been behind the Kaseya attack.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/09/21/feds_sanction_suex/