Binance Assists International Agencies in Taking Down $500M Ransomware Gang

Leading crypto exchange Binance has been commended for playing an active role in taking down a ransomware group known as “FANCYCAT“ which had reportedly laundered about US$500 million in cryptocurrencies. 

Binance Teams with International Agencies

Binance closely collaborated with international law enforcement agencies including the Ukraine Cyber Police, the Korean National Police Agency’s Cyber Bureau and US authorities to halt the operations of the notorious cybercriminal ring. 

According to the announcement, FANCYCAT was responsible for several high-profile attacks, which involved Cl0p and Petya ransomware. It was also alleged to have laundered money from the dark web and conducted a high-risk exchange. 

How Binance Identified FANCYCAT

The exchange said it employed a two-pronged approach in this case, which eventually led to the apprehension of FANCYCAT. The first involved Binance’s anti-money laundering and analytics program, which alerted it to the suspicious activities of the ransomware gang.

Upon detection of the group’s activity, Binance then worked with analytics companies TRM Labs and Crystal (BitFury) to further investigate the on-chain activities of the group, which led to its identification. 

We are continuing to investigate the FANCYCAT criminal syndicate across multiple jurisdictions and the connections associated with other cyber attacks.

Binance announcement

Curbing Illicit Flows to Exchanges

Crypto News Australia has previously reported several cases of Ransomware attacks, where ransoms were demanded in either Bitcoin or any privacy coin. Some cybercriminals have also opted to launder ill-gotten funds in cryptocurrencies, due to their anonymous property. 

This is a thorn in the side for the growth of the crypto space. However, these exchanges can help minimise crypto laundering by stepping up AML measures, as Binance noted.