Ransomware victims have paid $459,800,000 to cybercriminals within the first half of 2024, setting the stage for a brand new file this yr if ransom funds proceed at this degree.
Final yr, ransomware funds reached a file $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% larger than 2023’s record-breaking trajectory from the identical interval regardless of vital legislation enforcement operations that disrupted massive ransomware-as-a-service operations, comparable to LockBit.
In response to the newest Chainalysis report, this enhance is because of ransomware gangs specializing in getting bigger funds by concentrating on massive organizations to create expensive disruptions and the theft of shoppers’ 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 fee ever recorded at roughly $75 million to the Darkish Angels ransomware group.”
It’s unclear who paid the huge $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 big enhance within the median ransom fee, which moved from beneath $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 analogous enhance may 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 risk actors’ blackmail and select to pay the ransom in change for a decryptor and a promise to not leak stolen knowledge, Chainalysis says the optimistic pattern continues, with fewer organizations succumbing to the extortion.
The agency’s on-chain knowledge reveals that whole ransomware fee occasions have declined 27.27% YoY, so fee charges are nonetheless taking place.
This corroborates earlier studies by Coveware, based on which ransom funds hit a file low of simply 28% within the first quarter of the yr.
Supply: Chainalysis
Crypto crime overview
Chainalysis additionally studies 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 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 official cryptocurrency use is rising at a sooner charge.