ALBAWABA - On Wednesday, the US State Department launched an up to $15 million reward offering for information on the group behind the "ALPHV/BlackCat" ransomware that disrupted insurance payment systems throughout the US and targeted the IT division of UnitedHealth Group.
Change Healthcare, the IT division of UnitedHealth, is crucial for the facilitating of insurance providers' payments to health care professionals. The disruption brought about by the Blackcat hack has left patients and physicians without two pennies to rub together.
According to Reuters, the burden on community health centers, which provide care to over 30 million underprivileged and uninsured patients, has been particularly severe.
Earlier, BlackCat claimed that they were shutting down their operation after being “screwed over” by the feds after receiving a $23 millions in Bitcoins from healthcare firm Optum as a ransom for the Change Healthcare system, as reported by Bleeping Computer.
However, a Federal Bureau of Investigation seizure sign on the hackers’ website that reads “coordinated law enforcement action taken against ALPHV BlackCat Ransomware” turned out to be a fake, with Europol and the NCA stating to Bleeping Computer that no law enforcement activity had taken place against the threat actor.
BlackCat’s exit scam has started as early as 2020 under the name DarkSide, but following severe scrutiny from international law enforcement, the threat actors pulled the plug on the DarkSide operation in May 2021 after their well reported attacks on Colonial Pipeline.
The reward notice notes that the FBI has collaborated with several victims locally and abroad to provide a decryption program that would help recover victim computers and prevent them from paying a ransom demand that is estimated to be worth $99 million.
Should you become a victim of a ransomware attack, the FBI opposes paying a ransom the notice adds, explaining that accepting ransom requests gives a compelling reason to engage in this kind of illicit action and promotes additional ransomware outbreaks.
