The US State Department is offering insiders on the dark web a reward of US $ 10 million for information about hackers who are endangering the US. The initiative was disseminated at the Black Hat conference.
In recent months, the government of US President Joe Biden has repeatedly accused hackers from Russia and China of having carried out cyber attacks on various authorities. Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is mobilizing against hackers and is taking unusual measures. The State Department used the cyber conference for this purpose Black hatthat took place in Las Vegas last week. A completely open WiFi network called “#Rewardsnotransoms” was active there. After logging in, the participants came to a Website of the new initiative of the American State Department. It offers up to $ 10 million in rewards for information that can help put hackers in hostile states down.
Of course, the authorities’ choice for this campaign is no accident at the cyber conference Black hat please. Because it is the first time in the 40-year history of the Reward for JusticeProgram (RFJ) that the helpers can also receive the reward in crypto currencies. In addition, the US government has set up a secure portal on the dark web to contact them.
“There is tremendous excitement within our program. We really do use every opportunity to reach audiences, sources, and people who have information that can help improve our national security. Some government agencies may have been a little nervous at first, but we will continue to move forward in many different ways ”,
quoted CNN an official from the State Department.
Hackers can deliver information on the dark web
The goal of the new RFJ initiative is, of course, to get background information on the types of hackers that people involved in cyberattacks on US authorities might know. Hence the possibility of passing on the information on the dark web, which guarantees complete anonymity. The State Department believes that this would motivate the hackers to divulge their knowledge.
The rather high reward of up to 10 million US dollars naturally sounds anything but unattractive. For comparison, the highest reward RFJ offers is $ 25 million. It is offered to the head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who may already be dead.
In the weeks since the opening of the TOR channel, according to CNN, indications of malicious cyber actors have already been received. However, it is too early to say whether it will lead to anything.