The US Offers a $10M Bounty for Intel on Conti Ransomware Gang

The operators of the Conti strain have wreaked havoc. It has been used to attack governments and cripple hospitals. More than a thousand organizations have been targeted by these criminal hackers. The US government is trying to expose the gang's possible ties to the Russian state by identifying them for the first time.

The rewards for justice mission is an organization within the US State Department that handles national security rewards. The agency wants people to give information about five key members of the group: actors using the handles Professor, Reshaev, Tramp, Dandis, and Target.

The person believed to be Target is the subject of a photo published by rewards for justice. A middle-aged man is wearing a hat with ear flaps, a black T-shirt, and a dark colored jacket. It is the first time that a member of the Conti gang's real-world identity has been made public.

A State Department official who asked not to be named and did not provide any more information about Target's identity beyond the picture said that today marks the first time that the US government has publicly identified a Conti operatives. They say that the photo is the first time the US government has ever identified a malicious actor associated with the group. Due to the fear of arrest, many Russian cybercriminals will not travel outside of Russia.

The State Department moved to signify the dangerous role that Conti plays in the world of Ransomware. The group is run and organized like any small or medium sized business. A Ukrainian cybersecurity researcher published 60,000 internal messages from the company after they supported the invasion ofUkraine. The leaked information has been referred to as the Conti files.

The group is thought to have more than 100 different members, each working in their own department. According to their leaked chats, they ask for holiday time off, are paid regularly, and are professional in their approach to extortion. The group tried to develop a payment platform for cryptocurrencies. There was a $10 million reward for the attack on the Costa Rican government.

National security issues such as foreign election interference and North Korean hacking groups are the focus of the rewards for justice program. The state department is looking for more information to confirm that they are associated with a foreign government. They have been involved in cyber activity against us. They are viewed as a national security threat by us.