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If this policy expanded to all UK banks, it could plausibly make the UK a less interesting target for ransomware and similar cryptocurrency-backed extortion sch
by amluto 4y ago
If this policy expanded to all UK banks, it could plausibly make the UK a less interesting target for ransomware and similar cryptocurrency-backed extortion schemes.
- richardwhiuk 4y agoI imagine you'll always be able to use something like Western Union to make such payments.
- amluto 4y agoAt least in principal, with a service like Western Union, an actual human or other KYC’d entity needs to collect the money at the other end. If you run a $100M ransomware campaign, a very enthusiastic prosecutor is fairly likely to arrange to arrest people well before $100M gets cashed out, and without perfect opsec, you have a problem. And Western Union respects sanctions.
- richardwhiuk 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union#Controversies Not so much.
- amluto 4y agoI did say “in principle” for a reason (although I did misspell it). That being said, with a large enough fraud campaign, law enforcement really could target Western Union’s users.
- Gigachad 4y agoI believe Australia is moving towards making it illegal to pay crypto ransoms. Cybercrime has gone absolutely wild over the last few years and cutting off the money tap should do some good.
- TheGhostOfBoris 4y agoHere in Blighty, paying a ransom is legal per se....... .....but making payments to a sanctioned country or a terrorist organisation is very illegal (as I suspect it is in most of the world). For this reason, any organisation obeying the law will refuse to pay the ransom.