The US authorities plan to tighten control over cryptocurrency transactions to protect the country against hackers using ransomware viruses, Bloomberg has reported.
According to the publication's sources, President Joe Biden's administration will track the transfers of digital assets used to pay hackers.
The White House has created a special division that will monitor the activities of hackers using ransomware viruses, announced Deputy National Security Adviser Anne Neuberger.
The United States will work with its allies to convince other countries not to harbor hackers, Neuberger said. In addition, according to the US presidential assistant, the Congress needs to develop cybersecurity standards for US companies.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
In early June, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) returned part of the ransom the operator of Colonial Pipeline had paid to hackers from the DarkSide group in Bitcoins.
The authorities confiscated 63.7 Bitcoins. The refund was secured by a group specially created to combat ransomware.
Colonial Pipeline suffered a ransomware attack in early May. As a result, the pipeline's operation was temporarily shut down and there were disruptions to gas supplies to the East Coast. Later it was known the company had paid a ransom of 75 BTC.