The US State Department has announced a bounty of $10 million – to anyone who shares a tip linking the Clop ransomware gang to any foreign government.
This reward announcement comes after the Clop gang hit MOVEit software, a file-sharing platform, that infected hundreds of organizations, including some federal agencies. Security researchers or rival threat actors having a tip can share it with the government through a SecureDrop Tor server setup dedicatedly for this purpose.
Enticing With a Bounty Reward
The hot topic in the field of cybersecurity since last month is about MOVEit – a secure file transfer platform that has been hit by Clop ransomware, which in turn affected hundreds of organizations relying on it. This included some federal agencies, too, thus triggering widespread criticism in the tech community.
Though Clop ransomware promised to delete any stolen data from government agencies, it’s hard to believe a threat actor. As we assume the data is being exploited somewhere, the US Department of State has just announced a bounty for anyone who shares a tip about Clop ransomware.
The bounty is under the government’s Rewards for Justice program, amounting to $10 million for information linking the Clop ransomware attacks to a foreign government. Announcing this, the department said;
“Do you have info linking CL0P Ransomware Gang or any other malicious cyber actors targeting U.S. critical infrastructure to a foreign government? Send us a tip. You could be eligible for a reward.”
The Rewards for Justice program was initially launched to counter terrorists targeting U.S. interests but eventually expanded to include cyber crimes. The government in the past has announced similar rewards for tips on Conti, REvil and other critical ransomware groups.
If you’re a security researcher or a rival threat group having any information on the Clop ransomware, you may share it with the State Department through a dedicated Tor SecureDrop server created for this very purpose.
