U.S. to Provide $25 Million to Costa Rica for Cybersecurity

“This funding is provided in response to a direct request from President Chaves to President Biden,” the official said.

The ransomware gang Conti attacked Costa Rican critical infrastructure and government institutions in April 2022, stealing data and defacing websites. Citizen services were hobbled for weeks. Then-newly elected President Rodrigo Chaves Robles declared a state of emergency in May.

The State Department offered rewards totaling $15 million for information leading to the arrest of the gang’s leaders or co-conspirators. The official said the U.S. government believes Costa Rica’s support for Ukraine may have been a factor in Conti’s attack, as the group previously expressed its support for the Russian government’s invasion.

Another ransomware group, Hive, claimed responsibility for further attacks in May, which targeted the Costa Rican Social Security Fund.

“At the time, we immediately deployed a team of U.S. experts to assist in Costa Rica’s recovery, and have been working closely with the country since then, and have recognized that this further stability, this further assistance is needed,” the official said.

The grant to Costa Rica follows similar efforts from the U.S. to assist Albania in recovering from a cyberattack, which the federal government has since linked to Iran. Tehran has denied involvement. 

In that instance, the U.S. provided an incident-response team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a further $25 million in funding to shore up defenses and aid with recovery efforts. The U.S. has provided similar assistance to countries such as Moldova in recent years.

The U.S. has attempted to build an international coalition to combat ransomware operators. Costa Rica has applied to join this initiative, which comprises 36 countries and the European Union, the official said. Current members will need to give their assent before the country is admitted.

Write to James Rundle at james.rundle@wsj.com