The U.S. State Department has announced a USD 10 million bounty for anyone who can identify the five Conti ransomware gang members. The news comes directly from the ‘Rewards for Justice’ Twitter handle, stating that the U.S. Government has revealed the face of the first gang member through a surveillance camera. Anyone who can confirm the hacker’s identity and assist the authorities in identifying the other members will get a reward of USD 10 million from the U.S. State Department.
U.S. government reveals the bounty and Conti members’ names
In the featured video within the Tweet, the Rewards of Justice, an official program by the U.S. government to provide monetary rewards to people who provide information related to threat actors, stated, “If you have information that ties hacking groups such as Conti, TrickBot, Wizard Spider; the hackers known as “Tramp,” “Dandis,” “Professor,” “Reshaev,” or “Target”; or any malware or ransomware to a foreign government targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, you may be eligible for a reward.”
The U.S. Government reveals the face of a Conti associate for the first time! We’re trying to put a name with the face!
To the guy in the photo: Imagine how many cool hats you could buy with $10 million dollars!
Write to us via our Tor-based tip line: https://t.co/WvkI416g4W pic.twitter.com/28BgYXYRy2
— Rewards for Justice (@RFJ_USA) August 11, 2022
The Tweet also asked people to send relevant information about the hackers to RFJ using a Tor-based tip line. The U.S. government is willing to pay a bounty amount of USD 10 million for successful leads.
The wrecking of Conti ransomware
Conti is a powerful ransomware behind many high-profile cyber-attacks, including the famous data theft of Graff, a premium London-based jewelry brand. It has also infiltrated various high-security organizations like C.S. Energy and internet of things (IIoT) chip maker Advantech. The malware is still a serious TA (Threat Actor) in the United States and is said to have amassed over $150 million in ransom payments from various businesses.
The ransomware has previously compromised many US-related industries and cities, including Broward County Public Schools in Florida, Advantech, and the City of Tulsa. All these attacks became more prominent as the hacker group tried igniting a war-like situation in Russia and Ukraine. In a leaked data of over 170,000 internal chat conversations between Conti members, the cybersecurity specialist, and government agencies were able to list down five important members of the group — Tramp, Dandis, Professor, Reshaev, and Target, who might still be running the Conti group despite it being closed after it sided with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
