Global ‘Wana’ Ransomware Outbreak Earned Perpetrators $26k So Far

Re:Global ‘Wana’ Ransomware Outbreak Earned Perpetrators $26... by matt-attack on Monday May 15, 2017 @02:52PM (#14344104)

If bitcoin were truly that ineffective for use by extortionists, why is it so commonly used? Note: I'm truly asking a question, I know very little about the subject.

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Re:Global ‘Wana’ Ransomware Outbreak Earned Perpetrators $26... by marcosdumay on Monday May 15, 2017 @04:41PM (#14344925)

Honestly, I'm repeating this question for years. I still didn't come-up with a good answer.

The best that I got is that those criminals rely on living in countries with weak rule of law, and Bitcoin makes for just enough obfuscation that those countries won't investigate them, while countries wiling to investigate don't want to disclaim they have the ability.

Besides, anonymity is not the only feature of Bitcoin useful for criminals. There's also the fact that transactions can not be stopped or undone. Those may be even more important.

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Re:Global ‘Wana’ Ransomware Outbreak Earned Perpetrators $26... by moosingin3space on Monday May 15, 2017 @03:04PM (#14344194)

My guess is that BTC, while not effectively anonymous, does make it easy to use temporary accounts for receipt of extortion money.

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