A new U.S. platform “Rewards for Justice” offers whistleblowers the opportunity to send information about the activities of hackers who are supported by enemy nations.
The platform was promoted at the Black Hat USA event held in Las Vegas. Attendees of the event could apply through the open Wi-Fi network #Rewardsnotransoms. According to CNN, the network was created to encourage users to take advantage of the “Rewards for Justice” system.
The system offers a $10 million reward for information about terrorism, extremism, and hacking threats. The informants provide the classified information through a secure portal to the dark web.
A former U.S. counterintelligence executive called the project: “the U.S.’s public entry into the crypto-asset market.” Earlier, the U.S. administration accused hackers recruited by China and Russia of attacking U.S. government institutions.
The Rewards for Justice program are supposed to prevent such attacks by using information provided by whistleblowers.
Although the platform has already received tips, a State Department official stressed that cybercrime operations are “not a quick process.”
“We get tips. We’re evaluating the tips. We share those tips with interagency partners. Then they must use that information, get on the trail and start investigating,” he said.
Another official predicted that the program would be a precursor to similar cyberpolice initiatives in the future, saying:
“I think offering cryptocurrency is something that we will use in the future for other types of rewards. It may encourage other sources to come to us with information that they may not have wanted to come to us before.”
