Ransomware victims have paid $459,800,000 to cybercriminals within the first half of 2024, setting the stage for a brand new report this 12 months if ransom funds proceed at this stage.
Final 12 months, ransomware funds reached a report $1.1 billion, which Chainalysis beforehand predicted from stats gathered within the first half of the 12 months when ransomware exercise grossed $449,100,000.
We now stand at roughly 2% greater than 2023’s record-breaking trajectory from the identical interval regardless of vital regulation enforcement operations that disrupted giant ransomware-as-a-service operations, akin to LockBit.
In line with the newest Chainalysis report, this enhance is because of ransomware gangs specializing in getting bigger funds by concentrating on giant organizations to create pricey disruptions and the theft of consumers’ private information.
“2024 is set to be the highest-grossing year yet for ransomware payments, due in no small part to strains carrying out fewer high-profile attacks, but collecting large payments,” reads the Chainalysis report.
“2024 has seen the largest ransomware payment ever recorded at approximately $75 million to the Dark Angels ransomware group.”
It’s unclear who paid the large $75 million ransom fee, 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 major enhance within the median ransom fee, which moved from below $199,000 in early 2023 to $1,500,000 in June 2024.
Supply: Chainalysis
Chainalysis says the variety of confirmed ransomware assaults, in line with eCrime.ch intelligence, has grown by 10% YoY in 2024, whereas the same enhance may be seen within the variety of victims printed on extortion portals on the darkish internet.
By way of what number of victims yield to the risk actors’ blackmail and select to pay the ransom in alternate for a decryptor and a promise to not leak stolen information, Chainalysis says the optimistic development continues, with fewer organizations succumbing to the extortion.
The agency’s on-chain information exhibits that complete ransomware fee occasions have declined 27.27% YoY, so fee charges are nonetheless happening.
This corroborates earlier stories by Coveware, in line with which ransom funds hit a report low of simply 28% within the first quarter of the 12 months.
Supply: Chainalysis
Crypto crime overview
Chainalysis additionally stories 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 common worth of cryptocurrency stolen per heist elevated by roughly 80%, with cybercriminals concentrating on primarily centralized exchanges as a substitute of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols that suffered nearly all 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 reputable cryptocurrency use is rising at a quicker charge.
