A Chainalysis report has noted the rising levels of ransomware scams that have siphoned away around $1.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency over the past two years.
Ransomware Attacks On The Rise
According to the 2022 Crypto Crime Report by Chainalysis, around $692 million worth of crypto had been stolen via ransomware payments in 2020 alone. For 2021, the amount has been around $602, but the amount is likely to increase much more as additional information becomes available. Clearly, there has been a sizeable increase in ransomware schemes, as in 2019, the amount was as low as $152 million, and in 2018, it was just $39 million. Additionally, in 2019, an average ransomware payment was around $25,000 worth of crypto, whereas, in 2020, it shot up to an average of $88,000. In 2021, the average ransomware payment totaled more than $118,000.
Global Initiatives To Fight Cybercriminals
The Chainalysis report claimed that the surge in ransomware schemes has led to multiple countries to unite against it. Last week, the U.S., the UK, and Australia issued a joint alert that warned global businesses about the ransomware threat and the advanced techniques adopted by cybercriminals like professional business models and leaking data about potential victims. The Biden administration is actively trying to combat the threat by rolling out cyber defense initiatives to prevent any repeats of 2021. Furthermore, the White House also held a meeting with representatives from 30 countries to counter the consistently increasing number of cyber breaches. Law enforcement agencies are focusing on doling out arrests against alleged ransomware operators working out of Europe.
Experts’ Opinions
According to experts, more information regarding ransomware hacks in 2021 is yet to come out as victims often do not disclose the details of the hack, fearing repercussions. They simply pay the amount demanded to unlock their systems and cut their losses. However, experts have also pointed out that the secrecy helps these criminal groups that are likely based out of Russia and Eastern Europe that especially target US businesses. The Crypto Crime Report from Chainalysis had also reported about how DeFi is slowly becoming the tool of preference for cybercriminals to siphon away large chunks of cryptocurrency.
The report claims that around 37% of the crypto scam revenue in 2021 was associated with DeFi related scams. Furthermore, the report has also claimed that North Korea was behind at least seven attacks on different cryptocurrency exchanges, resulting in nearly $400 million worth of digital assets being stolen. UN experts have claimed that N.Korea is using these stolen funds to sponsor its missile program.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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