Ransomware on track for record profits, even as fewer victims pay
Ransomware payments in 2024 are on track to once again hit a record total value, even as fewer victims are choosing to pay attackers, Chainalysis found in its 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-year Update published last week.
The blockchain intelligence firm revealed in a report published earlier this year that total ransomware payments exceeded $1 billion globally for the first time in 2023, and its mid-year report published Thursday indicated 2024 is also on track to hit, or even exceed, last year’s numbers.
While the total global ransomware inflows only increased by 2%, from $449.1 million to $459.8 million, between the first half of 2023 and first half of 2024, the cost of individual payments show a more drastic shift in trends.
For example, the median ransomware payment among the most severe ransomware groups — those whose maximum payments exceeded $1 million — increased nearly eight-fold from slightly less than $200,000 at the start of 2023 to about $1.5 million by the middle of June 2024.
Source: SC Media