Cryptocurrencies and Piracy: Technical Responses and Legal Frameworks

In the first part of this article, we saw how cryptocurrencies, originally designed to promote financial independence, have been massively hijacked by cybercriminals: ransomware, money laundering, large-scale scams… The pseudonymous and decentralized nature of crypto-assets makes them a tool of choice for those seeking to cover their tracks.

But traceability exists, the tools are getting better and national and international legal frameworks are getting stronger.. Today, we take stock of the concrete means available to businesses and institutions to respond to threats linked to cryptocurrencies.

Can Crypto Flows Really Be Traced?

They can indeed be traced, but not always easily. Contrary to what people think, the blockchain is an immense public database. Every transaction is recorded there, immutable and visible… you just have to know how to read it.

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In recent years, specialized companies have developed very powerful analysis tools to visualize and reconstruct financial flows on blockchains. Among the best known:

• Chainalysis
• Elliptic
• TRM Labs
• CipherTrace

These platforms cross-reference blockchain data with databases built from court seizures, darknet analysis, KYC reports and behavioural algorithms. They are able to attribute addresses to known entities (platforms, hacker groups, laundered wallets, etc.), and to detect suspicious behaviour.

These tools are now widely used by authorities (the FBI, Europol, the French gendarmerie, etc.) and by some large cybersecurity companies like ours, as part of incident response.

How to React If Your Company Is Targeted

No company is completely safe. But a fast, structured response can make all the difference. Here are the key steps to follow if you face an attack involving a demand for payment in cryptocurrency:

1. Never Pay in a Panic

Even if the pressure is immense, paying a ransom offers no guarantee. Your data may never be returned, or worse: your company may be targeted again, because you will be identified as a “payer.”

From a legal standpoint, payment can also expose you to prosecution if the attacking group is sanctioned (OFAC, EU, etc.). In the United States, for example, the U.S. Treasury has explicitly warned against paying ransoms to entities under international sanctions.

2. Set Up a Crisis Cell

As soon as the attack is identified, set up an incident response team with the following people:

• Internal IT team and/or cybersecurity provider
• Legal counsel (GDPR / CCPA / PIPEDA)
• Executive management
• Cyber insurer (if you have one)
• Relevant authorities (ANSSI, CNIL, FBI, etc.)

The goal: to assess the scale of the attack, secure the remaining systems, identify the origin, and limit the spread.

3. Trace the Receiving Addresses

If a crypto address is provided to you (often with the ransom demand), it is essential to pass it on to experts immediately. They can:

• Analyze it with forensic tools
• Compare it with databases of suspicious wallets
• Identify possible links with other attacks

In some cases, this makes it possible to report the address to exchange platforms and to block the funds before they are laundered.

4. Notify Authorities and Regulators

Depending on your jurisdiction and the type of data compromised, you will be required to notify the relevant authorities within 72 hours:

• In Europe: the CNIL (under Article 33 of the GDPR)
• In the United States: the Attorney General of the state concerned (notably in California, under the CCPA)
• In Canada: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, if the breach poses a “real risk of significant harm” (PIPEDA)

Failing to notify can lead to heavier penalties than the attack itself.

International Oversight Meets Reality on the Ground

Long lagging behind, cryptocurrency regulation is now accelerating. But globally, approaches remain fragmented, sometimes contradictory, and often ill-suited to the speed of cyber threats. Between attempts at harmonization, regulatory turf wars and geopolitical pressure, businesses are navigating a shifting legislative jungle.

Europe: From Permissiveness to Structured Oversight

With the adoption of the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation, the European Union has clearly signalled its desire to become a regulatory leader in the crypto sector. This text, which came fully into application at the end of 2024, goes well beyond simply regulating platforms: it lays the foundations of a regulated internal market for crypto-assets, with requirements for transparency, traceability (the travel rule) and governance.

But this shift is also a direct reaction to the rise of money laundering through crypto, and to the growing number of cyberattacks involving anonymous payments. The gradual ban on unverified wallets, the monitoring of stablecoins, and reporting obligations for crypto service providers are all responses to a growing demand for digital security at the European level.

The paradox: this regulatory tightening could in time push criminal flows toward non-cooperative zones, where anonymity remains the norm. Hence the need for European companies to also watch entry and exit points located outside the EU.

United States: Competing Regulators and a Federal Void

On the American side, the situation is more complex. Crypto players operate in a fragmented ecosystem, where several agencies compete for leadership:

• The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) considers certain cryptocurrencies to be securities.
• The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) treats them as commodities.
• The U.S. Treasury, through OFAC and FinCEN, imposes sanctions, monitors flows, and wants to broaden the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act.

But no unified regulatory framework has yet emerged. This uncertainty fuels tension between innovation and protection.

The CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), often compared to the GDPR, is one of the few American laws to set notification rules in the event of a cyberattack. But it remains confined to a single state. The adoption of a federal law on cybersecurity and crypto-assets, promised for years, still seems as distant as ever.

The result: for companies operating in the United States, handling a crypto incident requires active legal monitoring and close coordination with authorities… whose jurisdictions overlap.

Canada: Between Transatlantic Alignment and Legislative Caution

In Canada, it is PIPEDA (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) that governs the handling of personal data, including in the event of a security breach. Although it was not specifically designed for digital assets, this law requires companies to report significant privacy breaches, including those tied to crypto ransom demands.

But Ottawa is preparing a paradigm shift. The CPPA (Consumer Privacy Protection Act) bill aims to modernize Canadian law for the era of AI, blockchain and mass breaches. It would strengthen penalties and the powers of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and introduce a new dedicated tribunal.

For Canadian companies, this will mean:

• More responsibilities in handling incidents linked to crypto ransoms.
• A probable obligation to keep a record of extortion attempts and payments, including in a cross-border context.

Canada, often seen as a bridge between European and American models, could thus play a strategic role in the international standardization of crypto rules.

What This Means for Businesses

Legal oversight is not only a matter for lawyers. It has very concrete consequences for CISOs, CFOs, CIOs and compliance officers:

• A crypto payment to a malicious actor can engage the company’s criminal or administrative liability, especially in the event of a breach of the duty of vigilance.
• Failure to comply with notification rules (GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA…) exposes the company to financial penalties, but also to reputational damage.
• Using third-party blockchain analysis services becomes strategic to demonstrate due diligence in the event of an investigation or post-attack audit.

More broadly, the growing power of regulation requires companies to adopt proactive governance of crypto risks, even if they do not deal directly in digital currencies.

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Toward Responsible Use of Cryptocurrencies

Should crypto-assets be banned? Obviously not. That would mean missing out on their immense potential: smooth cross-border payments, decentralized contract management systems, secure micropayments, and more.

But we must stop treating them as tools “outside the system”. In a modern enterprise architecture, cryptocurrencies must:

• Be integrated into the risk map
• Be covered by specific crisis management protocols
• Be monitored through suitable threat intelligence tools

At the same time, training IT, legal and executive teams is essential to anticipate crypto-centred cyberattacks, including in sectors that do not expect them (industry, healthcare, construction…).

Join us in July for our new theme, on the influence of AI on the internet’s business model. In the meantime, if you have a film, a series, software or an ebook to protect, don’t hesitate to call on our services by contacting one of our account managers; PDN has been a pioneer in cybersecurity and anti-piracy for more than ten years, and we are bound to have a solution to help you. Happy reading, and see you soon!

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