02/07/2024

In 2023, Ransomware Payments Hit a Record $1.1 Billion

Last year saw total ransom payouts jump to their highest level yet

A year ago, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in the cybersecurity industry's long-running war of attrition against ransomware gangs. Fewer corporate victims of those hackers, it seemed, had paid ransoms in 2022, and cybercriminals were earning less from their ruthless attacks. Perhaps the cocktail of improved security measures, increased focus from law enforcement, international sanctions on the ransomware operators and scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry could actually beat the ransomware scourge.

Well, no. That respite appears to have been a mere hiccup on ransomware's trajectory to become one of the world's most profitable, and, perhaps, the most disruptive, form of cybercrime. In fact, 2023 was its worst year ever.

On Wednesday, cryptocurrency-tracing firm Chainalysis published new numbers from its annual crime report showing that ransomware payments exceeded $1.1 billion in 2023, based on its tracking of those payments across blockchains. That's the highest number Chainalysis has measured for a single year, and nearly twice as much as the year before. Indeed, the company now describes 2022's relatively low $567 million in ransom payments as an “anomaly,” as total extortion transactions have steadily grown since 2020 towards their current 10-figure record.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.