Ransomware Gangs Made at Least $350 Million in 2020 (zdnet.com) 15
Ransomware gangs made at least $350 million in ransom payments last year, in 2020, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis said in a report last week. From a report: The figure was compiled by tracking transactions to blockchain addresses linked to ransomware attacks. Although Chainalysis possesses one of the most complete sets of data on cryptocurrency-related cybercrime, the company said its estimate was only a lower bound of the true total due. The company blamed this on the fact that not all victims disclosed their ransomware attacks and subsequent payments last year, with the real total being many times larger than what the company was able to view. But despite the low figure, Chainalysis says that ransomware was actually on the rise. According to numbers released in a previous report, ransomware payments accounted for 7% of all funds received by "criminal" cryptocurrency addresses in 2020.
Ok, sell Gamestop (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: Ok, sell Gamestop (Score:1)
Re: Ok, sell Gamestop (Score:1)
We need new ways of dealing with ransomware (Score:2)
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The risk of being punished is small compared to the multi million pay outs.
And yet, I find myself giving even less of a shit for those who still fail to learn the importance of good backups.
The risk of being ignorant is nothing compared to the risk of a society tolerating and even welcoming mass ignorance. I wonder just how many ransomware payouts were 100% preventable.
They did not "make" anything (Score:3, Informative)
"make" implies productive activity to earn the revenue. The proper verb here is "stole", or perhaps "extorted".
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"make" implies productive activity to earn the revenue. The proper verb here is "stole", or perhaps "extorted".
Careful. You've accidentally started describing exactly how many other large institutions operate.
Corrupt bankers, Hedge fund managers, insurance company executives...I can think of a lot of people who struggle to "make" a damn thing other than an obscene paycheck, and bonuses stolen from the payroll pool. Oh, it's not stealing? Tell that to the employee making three hundred times less than the CEO.
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Re: They did not "make" anything (Score:1)
"Gangs?" (Score:2)
Why do people assume that ransomware is run by "gangs"?
More likely, they are individuals working alone.
You need one guy to write the code and another guy to ... ummm ... help spend the money?
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Simple. There is no honor among thieves.
All the more reason to operate alone.
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