Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

DOJ Sees Crypto Seizures as a Priority in Anti-Ransomware Push

DOJ Sees Crypto Seizures as a Priority in Anti-Ransomware Push

Crackdown could face hurdles if more hackers use privacy enhanced cryptocurrency
The Justice Department is increasingly trying to claw back ransomware payments made by hacked companies and is training cryptocurrency experts who can track funds across sometimes sprawling overseas criminal networks.

Ramping up seizures is a key prong of the U.S. strategy to slow a spate of ransomware attacks that the White House has labeled a top national-security threat, said Leo Tsao, principal deputy chief of the Justice Department’s money laundering and asset recovery section. The focus on retrieving payouts comes alongside the Biden administration’s push to shore up firms’ defenses, disable hackers’ tools and pressure foreign governments to crack down on criminals.

“One of the priorities of the department, in addition to prosecuting individuals carrying out these crimes, is to [get to] where we can seize and recover any proceeds that the criminals may earn from ransomware attacks or other cryptocurrency crimes,” Mr. Tsao said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Forum.

He didn’t offer details on whether federal officials would focus on ransoms paid by particular firms, such as critical infrastructure owners, or sums that reached certain dollar thresholds. The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Biden administration in June said it would expand efforts to track such transactions after ransomware gangs targeted a U.S. pipeline operator and a meat processor, disrupting their operations and extracting multimillion-dollar ransom payments. The White House’s emerging strategy in response spans law-enforcement and regulatory agencies.

The Treasury Department last month sanctioned a Russian-owned cryptocurrency exchange for allegedly aiding hackers to launder ransomware payments, a first-of-its-kind move that cybersecurity experts say could preview additional international restrictions. Last week, the Justice Department said it is creating a crypto unit to zero in on exchanges and “mixer” services that hacking groups use to move funds between various cryptocurrency addresses in ways intended to conceal the transactions from authorities.

That National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team will also conduct training and support other law enforcement agencies’ ransomware cases, Mr. Tsao said Tuesday.

“We have had to do a lot of educating within the department,” he said of the DOJ.

Mr. Tsao pointed to the May attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. as an example of how federal officials are adapting to trace and seize money in such extortion schemes. In June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation snagged $2.3 million of bitcoins paid by Colonial during the attack that disrupted the East Coast’s largest conduit for fuel for six days.

Investigators can follow crypto transactions across a public ledger known as a blockchain, giving them a bird’s-eye view of money changing hands in a fast-growing ransomware economy.

The gangs behind attacks, which often operate with relative impunity in Russian-speaking countries, extorted businesses for at least $350 million in cryptocurrency last year, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Cybersecurity experts say the total sum is likely much higher because some victim companies don’t report incidents.

While authorities are expanding their ability to track digital currencies, ransomware groups are similarly adapting their money-laundering strategies, Mr. Tsao said. That includes using overseas exchanges outside the reach of U.S. officials and cryptocurrencies designed to obscure transactions and better shield owners’ anonymity.

“Cryptocurrency presents additional challenges above and beyond fiat currency,” he said.

The government says combating cybercrime, including ransomware, requires a coordinated approach, including by other governments and the private sector.

“Simply prosecuting your way out of this problem is not a solution,” Mr. Tsao said, adding that working with companies will be an important part of the response, particularly in the cryptocurrency sphere.

The U.S. plans a 30-nation summit this month to discuss international cooperation in combating cybercrime.

Mr. Tsao was also asked if the Justice Department would look into the Pandora Papers recently released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which linked a number of politicians, public officials and celebrities to offshore tax havens, with some tied to financial crimes like money laundering.

Mr. Tsao said he was aware of the Pandora Papers, “but beyond that, there’s not really much more I can say about this topic.”

The Justice Department has historically prioritized combating international corruption and international money laundering, he said.

“I’ve spent a large part of my career as an anticorruption and anti-money-laundering prosecutor,” he added. “I have no doubt that foreign officials and foreign actors are using cryptocurrency to help launder funds, especially the proceeds of corruption, and we’ll continue to prioritize that at the department.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×