U.S. Government Offers Cryptocurrency Bounty In Radical New Approach To Fighting Cybercrime

Play by their rules.

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What seems like a first for the US government, the US State Department is offering payment of a cryptocurrency bounty worth up to $ 10 million (315 BTC at the time of writing) in exchange for actionable information about orchestrated by foreign governments Cyberattacks.

The federal agency, acting under the Diplomatic Security Service’s Rewards for Justice program, made the offer in a July 15 press release.

Payment would be made to anyone who can “provide information identifying or locating any person who is engaged in malicious cyber activities against critical US infrastructure under the direction or control of a foreign government.”

The press release then added, “Reward payments can include payments in cryptocurrency.”

A spokesman for the agency confirmed to a surprised Coindesk that this is actually “the first time since its inception in 1984 that the Rewards for Justice program has offered a reward payment in cryptocurrency.”

More importantly, it appears to be the first time that a US federal government has taken the plunge. Most wanted lists of cash rewards are also maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service (ICE), but so far none of the agencies has publicly offered to make payments in cryptocurrency (even if the refugee is related to crime wanted in connection with cryptocurrency).

For Bitcoin enthusiasts, the news can be seen as an admission by the U.S. government that decentralized cryptocurrencies are a viable means of conducting state business.

That’s probably read too much into it. To be eligible for the $ 10 million reward, you will almost certainly need to be a Russian or Chinese hacker willing to commit treason by giving information about your activities and chain of command to a hostile Western government.

The US Diplomatic Security Service will be aware that anyone who participates in its Rewards for Justice program is putting their life at risk, so the decision to offer cryptocurrency payments seems largely pragmatic. Most cryptocurrencies are processed over public blockchain networks, which offer more anonymity and less traceability than traditional payment channels.

Informants were also asked to contact them through an anonymized Tor channel on the dark web – not exactly a routine government protocol.

Nonetheless, it is of historical significance that the US federal government is now offering to pay for services – financed by taxpayers’ money – with cryptocurrencies that exist outside the control of central banks and other state institutions.

That should dispel any remaining doubts about the security of Bitcoin, which is cryptographically unbreakable and can only be confiscated by entrusting it to third parties if it is improperly stored.

If adopted as a broader government policy, the approach should also result in a healthy surge in intelligence tips.

Earlier this month, a coordinated ransomware attack from Russia disrupted the operations of more than 1,000 companies using the IT infrastructure of the US company Kaseya. Cybercrime costs the global economy more than $ 1 trillion a year – about 1% of global GDP – according to software security company McAfee.

source https://thedailytradingnews.com/u-s-government-offers-cryptocurrency-bounty-in-radical-new-approach-to-fighting-cybercrime/