The United States has announced a bounty of $10 million for tips to help take down foreign cybercriminals, according to Reuters. The State Department will offer a reward of up to $10 million for information that can identify or locate malicious cyber actors working at the behest of a foreign government to target critical U.S. infrastructure. In a statement, the U.S. State Department said that “certain malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure may violate the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act)” and that it has “set up a Dark Web (Tor-based) tips-reporting channel to protect the safety and security of potential sources.
<p>This is yet another tool in the cybersecurity ecosystem encouraging those with information to come forward, however, those with such knowledge are likely to be involved somehow which reduces the chance of their cooperation. Cybercrime at this targeted level is an extremely tight and underground network of career criminals who know how to leave no evidence in their wake. Unlike witnessing a physical crime such as a robbery, this bounty system is an optimistic request in the hope that there is someone who may know a shred of information which could help. What is more likely, however, is those who are privy to sensitive information may struggle to trust this bounty system in fear of being investigated themselves.</p>