An unknown person has transferred more than $140,000 (52.3 bitcoins) from the three online Accounts which were connected to the WannaCry ransomware virus, reported by CNN. Europol (European Union’s law enforcement agency) declined to comment, explaining that the investigation of WannaCry continues. The U.S. State Department did not comment on this information.
Bitcoins are converted into a cryptocurrency
According to the channel, the transfer from WannaCry accounts was made on Wednesday night and they were recorded by @actual_ransom Twitter-bot, which was created to control these accounts.
The reason for the transfer of money is still unknown. The funds were transferred from the three main accounts associated with WannaCry to nine other Bitcoin accounts, which will be investigated by researchers and officials. The amount in all the wallets associated with the ransom Attack is zero.
In May, it was reported that the security forces continue to monitor the three online accounts where the victims of the hacker attack sent money in the form of bitcoins. The co-founder of Elliptic, Tom Robinson recognized the illegal activities using bitcoins and reported that the withdrawn bitcoins are converted into a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, CNBC reported. According to Elliptic, the last withdrawal of the bitcoins was made on Thursday early morning.
According to the Comae Technologies founder Matthieu Suiche, law enforcement agencies will investigate the movement of bitcoins.The CEO of identity security company Token Melanie Shapiro stated that the funds transferred from the Bitcoin accounts in order to make it more difficult to track them.
"We can watch all of this Bitcoin be moved around, but inevitably every move makes it harder to trace back to an individual," she said.
More than 200,000 people are the victims of WannaCry ransomware attack around the world.
Since May, WannaCry has affected more than 200,000 users around the world, reported by Europol's director Rob Wainwright. The affected users were asked to pay $300 using Bitcoin to unlock their system.
The Financial Times, citing cyber security analysts, reported that an American intelligence tool known as Eternal Blue was combined with WannaCry's extortion program. The National Health Service of the United Kindom was badly attacked by the virus because their operating systems were outdated, according to the CNBC.
