Inside the FBI's Strategy for Prosecuting Ransomware
The US government is throwing the book at even mid-level cybercriminals. Is it just, and is it working?
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Background for this topic.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the United States’ principal federal law-enforcement agency and a domestic intelligence authority. In cybersecurity, it investigates cybercrime, digital intrusion, online fraud, and espionage; works with victims and other agencies; and may support disruption operations, prosecutions, or public warnings. FBI references in security news often concern indictments, infrastructure seizures, malware or intrusion advisories, and requests for victim cooperation.
Practitioners can report suspected internet crime through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or contact a local FBI field office, while preserving relevant logs, messages, and other evidence. FBI engagement can provide threat intelligence, such as indicators of compromise or information about attacker infrastructure, and may affect evidence handling and legal processes. It does not replace containment, recovery, breach assessment, or privacy and regulatory notifications required of the affected organization.
The US government is throwing the book at even mid-level cybercriminals. Is it just, and is it working?
New malware, even better social engineering chops The FBI and a host of international cyber and law enforcement agencies on Tuesday warned that Scattered Spider extortionists have changed their tactics and are now breaking into victims' networks using savvier social engineering techniques, searching for organizations' Snowflake database credentials, and deploying a handful of new ransomware variants, most recently DragonForce. …
FBI Dallas has seized almost 23 Bitcoins from a cryptocurrency address belonging to a Chaos ransomware member that is linked to cyberattacks and extortion payments from Texas companies. [...]
The federal government has applied for forfeiture of the funds, which were seized by FBI Dallas in April 2025