White House eyes tighter cryptocurrency rules to curb ransomware attacks

The Biden administration intends to rein in ransomware attacks by removing the cloak of anonymity surrounding cryptocurrency payments as President Joe Biden prepares to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, according to a June 4 report by The Washington Post.

Seven things to know:

1. On June 4, the White House said President Biden will raise concerns over Russia's harboring ransomware criminals when he meets with Mr. Putin on June 16 in Geneva. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said other leaders have similar concerns.
   
   
2. One of the Biden administration's efforts to curb ransomware is to make cryptocurrency exchanges less anonymous to crack down on ransomware payments, most of which are paid with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.
   
   
3. Cryptocurrency is run on a global network of computers that is not connected to any central bank, which allows payments to be made and received without any middleman and without revealing one's identity.
   
   
4. The White House wants to work with an international coalition of governments to pressure cryptocurrency companies operating offshore to report suspicious transactions and the identity of the parties.
   
   "I can't underscore enough how that cryptocurrency line of effort is key," said the White House official. It is "what's driven the growth of ransomware."
   
   
5. Hacker groups operate with near impunity, as many operate within Russian and Eastern European borders. Countries like Russia ignore their activities as long as they don’t target companies, people or government agencies inside their borders, the Post said.
   
   
6. Putin addressed claims that Russians are behind ransomware attacks on U.S. companies. He told state television that reports that Russians were behind attacks on the Colonial Pipeline and meat processing company JBS are "nonsense."
   
   "It's just laughable," he said. The reports were an attempt to "provoke some new conflicts before our meeting with Biden."
   
   
7. Hacker groups have made clear that they don;t intend to go away as the U.S. increases efforts to rein in attacks. "We will work harder, harder and harder," said one ransomware hacker, who goes by the handle UNKN and belongs to one of the largest ransomware hacker groups, REvil.