The U.S. State Department announced a reward for providing any information that would help identify those behind the development and use of the Conti ransomware virus. Department spokesman Ned Price shared the details.

In a message on the site of the State Department it is indicated that the U.S. government is ready to pay $10 million for help in catching "ringleaders" of the criminal grouping. In addition, authorities are promising $5 million for information that would make it possible to arrest the wanted hackers' accomplices.

Ned Price, commenting on the agency's initiative, said that the attackers carried out hundreds of operations using the encryption tool. All in all, during their activity, the hackers managed to get about $150 million, which, according to the spokesman for the State Department, puts Conti ransomware virus into the rating of the most successful tools of its kind.

The representative of the agency also recalled that in April of this year the government of Costa Rica was attacked with the help of Conti. The criminals managed to wreak havoc on the state customs and tax services. Earlier similar actions had also affected Apple and Tesla.