Ransomware victims have paid $459,800,000 to cybercriminals within the first half of 2024, setting the stage for a brand new document this yr if ransom funds proceed at this degree.
Final yr, ransomware funds reached a record $1.1 billion, which Chainalysis beforehand predicted from stats gathered within the first half of the yr when ransomware exercise grossed $449,100,000.
We now stand at roughly 2% increased than 2023’s record-breaking trajectory from the identical interval regardless of important regulation enforcement operations that disrupted massive ransomware-as-a-service operations, reminiscent of LockBit.
Based on the most recent Chainalysis report, this improve is because of ransomware gangs specializing in getting bigger funds by concentrating on massive organizations to create costly disruptions and the theft of consumers’ private knowledge.
“2024 is about to be the highest-grossing yr but for ransomware funds, due in no small half to strains finishing up fewer high-profile assaults, however gathering massive funds,” reads the Chainalysis report.
“2024 has seen the biggest ransomware cost ever recorded at roughly $75 million to the Darkish Angels ransomware group.”
It’s unclear who paid the huge $75 million ransom payment, however Zscaler, who found it, says it was made by an organization within the Fortune 50 for an assault in early 2024.
A transparent indicator that ransomware actors goal larger organizations is a big improve within the median ransom cost, which moved from underneath $199,000 in early 2023 to $1,500,000 in June 2024.
Supply: Chainalysis
Chainalysis says the variety of confirmed ransomware assaults, based on eCrime.ch intelligence, has grown by 10% YoY in 2024, whereas an identical improve could be seen within the variety of victims revealed on extortion portals on the darkish internet.
When it comes to what number of victims yield to the menace actors’ blackmail and select to pay the ransom in alternate for a decryptor and a promise to not leak stolen knowledge, Chainalysis says the constructive pattern continues, with fewer organizations succumbing to the extortion.
The agency’s on-chain knowledge reveals that whole ransomware cost occasions have declined 27.27% YoY, so cost charges are nonetheless happening.
This corroborates earlier reviews by Coveware, based on which ransom funds hit a record low of just 28% within the first quarter of the yr.
Supply: Chainalysis
Crypto crime overview
Chainalysis additionally reviews that the influx of stolen cryptocurrency has doubled YoY, growing from $857 million to $1.58 billion by the tip of July 2024.
Supply: Chainalysis
The typical worth of cryptocurrency stolen per heist elevated by roughly 80%, with cybercriminals concentrating on primarily centralized exchanges as an alternative of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols that suffered the vast majority of assaults in earlier years.
Supply: Chainalysis
Regardless of these will increase in absolute numbers, it is famous that illicit on-chain exercise dropped by 20% in comparison with 2023, indicating that authentic cryptocurrency use is rising at a sooner fee.
