Ban All Ransomware Payments, in Bitcoin or Otherwise

It notified the world that certain ransom payments are illegal, specifically those to sanctioned ransomware operators. The agency’s letter clarifies that should a victim make a ransom payment to an OFAC-sanctioned ransomware operator, that person could be breaking the law.

Once the data is locked, the ransomware operator demands the victim pay a ransom in exchange for a decryption key. Ransom payments will stop, ransomware operators will cease their attacks and the damage ends.

Timeline of