WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled sanctions against a cryptocurrency exchange over its alleged role in enabling illegal payments from ransomware attacks, officials said, part of a broader crackdown on the growing threat.
The treasury department accused Suex OTC, SRO of facilitating transactions involving illicit proceeds for at least eight ransomware variants, its first such move against a virtual currency exchange over ransomware activity.
"Exchanges like Suex are critical to attackers' ability to extract profits from ransomware attackers," treasury deputy secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a call with reporters previewing the announcement on Monday evening. The action "is a signal of our intention to expose and disrupt the illicit infrastructure using these attacks."
Hackers use ransomware to take down systems that control everything from hospital billing to manufacturing. They stop only after receiving hefty payments, typically in cryptocurrency.
TimesOfIndia
