The Price Isn’t Always Right. Ransomware is on the Rise.
RansomwareA type of malicious program that is designed to encrypt a sy... More continues to be a major cybersecurity challenge that impacts us all – from big industry to small businesses to individuals.
In 2021, we analyzed trends in ransomware usage and bottled those up in our latest Current Trends in Ransomware Report. Here’s a snapshot of what you’ll find in the report:
- Double extortion ransomware increased nearly 500% in 2021
- BitcoinThe term "Bitcoin" can either refer to Bitcoin the network, ... More (BTC) remains the preferred payment system, but MoneroMonero (XMR) is an open-source cryptocurrency created in Apr... More (XMR) has jumped sharply in adoption by ransomware groups
- The first six months of 2021 saw payments to ransomware groups of $590m, an increase of 42% over the whole of 2020
As the digital economy grows, cyberattacks are increasing. It’s crucial for businesses and governments to have a disaster preparedness plan in place for cyberattacks and security breaches to mitigate risk and limit their liability. Backups are not enough.
So how can we tackle this challenge?
BlockchainA blockchain is a shared digital ledger, or a continually up... More analytics provide critical cryptocurrencyA cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset des... More intelligence needed to trace ransomware actors. However, it is crucial to not only trace ransomware proceeds to find and stop the operators, but also to strengthen systems and educate the public on how these compromises occur in order to truly mitigate disruption.
Because ransomware actors use public blockchains for receiving payments, all transactions can be viewed on the chain, enabling law enforcement (or anyone, for that matter) to trace the flow of funds. But that’s just on the surface.
To get a bit deeper, you can utilize a blockchain analytics tool like CipherTrace Inspector to provide additional intelligence to the trace and investigation, such as identifying when the funds had been deposited into an exchange. Once the funds reach a centralized exchange, law enforcement can stop the movement of funds by requesting that the exchange freeze the account and, if users had to undergo a KYC process, it could be possible to identify the individual behind the addressIn a cryptocurrency context, an address is a cryptographic k... More.
There’s loads more insight in the report, so take a look and if you have any questions, email us at [email protected].