Ransomware payments and stolen cryptocurrency have increased in the first half of 2024, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
Chainalysis found that while illegal on-chain activity has dropped by nearly 20% year-to-date, ransomware payments have increased by 2%, from $449.1 million in the first half of 2023 to $459.8 million in the first half of 2024. In addition, the amount of cryptocurrency stolen this year has increased to $1.58 billion, up from $857 million last year.
In terms of ransomware payments, an analysis of wallets known to be associated with ransomware groups showed that a total of $1.1 billion was paid out by victims in 2023. However, Chainalysis believes 2024 is on track to becoming the highest-grossing year for ransomware payments.
One significant contributing factor in the rise of ransomware payments has been big game hunting — cybercriminals are launching fewer attacks, but their targets are major organizations that are more likely to pay a big ransom. One company has reportedly paid a record-breaking $75 million ransom to the Dark Angels cybercrime group.
As a result of this and other attacks, the median ransom payment has increased from $200,000 in early 2023 to $1.5 million in mid-June 2024, according to Chainalysis.
On the other hand, the company noted that the recent law enforcement operations against major ransomware operations such as BlackCat and LockBit have resulted in some affiliates migrating to less effective malware strains and some have even created their own strains.
In terms of stolen cryptocurrency, Chainalysis found that the total losses reached $1.58 billion by the end of July 2024, which represents an 84% increase compared to the same period of last year.
The number of attacks targeting cryptocurrency companies has remained the same, but losses have increased significantly, largely due to the rising value of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, for instance, surged to over $60,000 in the first seven months of 2024, from an average of $26,000 in the same period of 2023.
While in the past three years threat actors focused on DeFi services, they are apparently once again turning their attention to centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, which have invested more in security compared to DeFi services. This includes North Korean hackers, which are believed to have stolen billions in cryptocurrency.
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