The White Home is giving hundreds of thousands to governments whose international locations had been hit with devastating malware (opens in new tab) assaults. 

After giving $25 million to Albania in September 2022, the Biden administration has now determined to offer the identical quantity to Costa Rica, with the cash supposed to assist these international locations tighten up their cybersecurity posture. 

“It can help the federal government of Costa Rica’s work to safe its networks and defend its crucial infrastructure,” the official mentioned. “It actually displays the president’s broader efforts to assist companions efforts to construct safe, open and dependable digital infrastructure all over the world.”

Direct request

Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves despatched a “direct request” for monetary support, to US President Joe Biden, after being hit by the Conti ransomware in 2022.

The assault noticed operators strike the nation’s crucial infrastructure, bringing virtually all the authorities to a screeching halt, with tax assortment programs affected, in addition to medical appointments as Conti made away with greater than 670GB of delicate knowledge. 

The US authorities introduced a $10 million bounty for any info resulting in the identification or location of Conti’s management, with an extra $5 million to anybody whose assist would result in the arrest and/or conviction of anybody attempting to participate in a Conti ransomware assault.

Additionally it is value mentioning that Conti was of Russian origin. Within the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the risk actor publicly sided with the Kremlin, threatening to go after anybody who would dare to assault Russia’s infrastructure or struggle effort. What the U.S. authorities’s bounty couldn’t do, different cybercriminals did out of sheer sympathy for Ukraine. 

Conti’s supply code was quickly leaked on-line, in addition to 1000’s of chat logs, which in the end led to the group’s disbandment. 

However, final yr’s cyberattack on Albania was accomplished by an Iranian state-sponsored attacker. Albania severed all diplomatic ties with Iran following the occasion, whereas the U.S. authorities sanctioned the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, because of this.

“Clearly, within the present context, we acknowledge that supporting our allies’ and companions’ safety is essential within the context of the work we’re doing supporting our European allies and companions from Russian cyberattacks, within the context of our broader competitors with China and the important thing area Latin America performs in that as effectively,” the official concluded.

• Try the very best firewalls (opens in new tab)

By way of: Cyberscoop (opens in new tab)