Bitcoin ransomware operators received more than $33 million in 2021

In 2021, more than $33 million in cryptocurrency was sent to addresses associated with ransomware, according to data from Ransomwhere.

The service was launched by Jack Cable, an engineer at the cybersecurity-focused Krebs Stamos Group. The tool tracks payments to ransomware operators, collecting information about attacks from affected users and verifying the credibility of those reports.

The project team hopes Ransomwhere will help gauge the spread of malware and devise effective measures to combat it.

According to Cable, it is impossible to analyse the consequences of ransomware attacks without exhaustive publicly available data on the total number of payments in their favour. He explained that having such information would help determine whether certain actions change the situation for the better.

Today, there’s no comprehensive public data on the total number of ransomware payments. Without such data, we can’t know the full impact of ransomware, and whether taking certain actions changes the picture.https://t.co/vOQg2gAd9B

— Jack Cable (@jackhcable) July 8, 2021

According to the service, in 2021 the largest ransomware was REvil (Sodinokibi) from the eponymous hacking group. Its victims paid more than $11.3 million. In second place was Netwalker (Mailto); its developers and affiliated individuals received more than $5.7 million.

The total damage could more than double if the REvil receives $70 million, which they demanded from victims in early July.

According to Chainalysis, ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly profitable. In 2019, addresses tied to malware received $92.94 million in cryptocurrency, and in 2020 the figure rose to $406.34 million.

If you’re following the news, you know ransomware isn’t slowing down in 2021. Read our research on the latest trends, including 2021 ransomware totals, why attackers are commanding higher ransoms, and an uptick in attacks from Russia-affilated groups. https://t.co/Juldk2eCwb

— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) May 14, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden deemed tracking cryptocurrency transactions one of the possible options for fighting ransomware.

Jake Williams, chief technology officer of BreachQuest, noted that the United States does not have difficulty with ransomware operators— the problem lies in weak cybersecurity infrastructure.

“Policy-makers should take a holistic approach to cybersecurity, not merely discuss the visible aspects of outages. Solving the ransomware issue will still leave us unprotected,” wrote the expert.

Cable agreed that ransomware is merely a “symptom”. He argued that we need to “raise the bar for security at the national level” while not abandoning economic pressure on operators of such software.

Yes. Ransomware is a symptom of the problem. Not to say that we shouldn’t take actions to disrupt ransomware economics or apply international pressure (we should), but more fundamentally we need to raise the bar of security nationally. https://t.co/JtIWRKW2Ym

— Jack Cable (@jackhcable) July 12, 2021

In Congress, it is argued that ransomware operators are capable of burying Bitcoin’s reputation, as the first cryptocurrency is involved in illicit transactions.

In June, the U.S. Department of Justice raised the priority of investigations into cyberattacks to the level of terrorism cases.

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