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| Ransomware attacks are not as profitable as they used to be |
Ransomware attacks are not as profitable as they used to be, and there is a report that shows why
The amount extorted from cybercriminal gangs via ransomware attacks fell 40% year-on-year, according to a new report, indicating that companies are no longer subject to these gangs to recover their sensitive data.
The Chainalysis report examined cryptocurrency wallets known to be associated with ransomware gangs, as all blockchain data is borrowed and wallet activity can be easily tracked on-chain. Wallet tracking is relatively easy as cybercriminals need to share their wallets with victims.
In 2022, a total of $456.8 million was withdrawn from the wallets of known ransomware gangs, according to Chainalysis. Last year, the bands pulled in about $766 million, roughly the same as 2020's figure of $765 million.
The researchers found that the decrease in spending was not due to less successful ransomware attacks. Instead, cyber threat actors are more successful than ever, especially since the internet is now flooded with more than 10,000 strings of ransomware looking for their next victim.
It was also found interesting that ransomware syndicates or their affiliates do not necessarily adhere to a single variant of ransomware in their operations. In fact, the same wallets have been observed receiving payments from victims infected with various types of malware, including Conti, BlackCat, Black Lotus, LockBit, Sunscript, and Hive, among others.
In its report, Chainalysis cautioned that although the numbers provided are unlikely to be meaningful, since it is relatively easy for researchers to track wallet activity, it is impossible to say whether they have found all wallets owned by gangs.
In addition, some organizations have not reported being victims of this type of cybercrime and other gang wallets may be discovered later. That's what happened in a 2022 report, when Chainanalysis initially thought scammers stole $602 million instead of the more recent $766 million.