In a press conference yesterday, June 7, 2021, the US Department of Justice announced they had seized and recovered most of the ransom paid to the Darkside actors by Colonial Pipeline. Court documents say 63.7 out of the 75 Bitcoin paid were recovered at the time of payment in early May. While It was stated in the press conference that this is not the first time Bitcoin funds have been seized, this is the first operation conducted by the Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force. The task force was established to handle cases like Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods and will likely be seen responding to high-profile cases such as this in the future.
