Cryptocurrency Scams Are Down, but Crypto Ransomware Is on the Rise

The number of dollars lost to cryptocurrency-related crimes has dropped this year, with one huge exception... Crypto ransomware. Attacks like ransomware are continuing to grow in numbers, extorting victims for about $449.1 million between the start of this year till June.

I'd say this is good news overall since other scams have been stealing far less money than ever.

Still, it shows that ransomware is still a concern. In 2021, the money lost to that particular business cyber threat hit $1.5 billion, although it has dropped by 40% year-over-year as of this year. Nevertheless, it is a big problem for crypto owners and businesses.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malware that locks a victim's data or device and threatens to keep it locked—or worse—unless the victim pays a ransom to the attacker. And according to the IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023, these ransomware attacks represented 17 percent of all the cyberattacks last year.

The most common type of ransomware is called encrypting ransomware or crypto-ransomware. The attacker demands a ransom in exchange for providing the encryption key needed to decrypt the data. The other form of ransomware is called non-encrypting ransomware or screen-locking ransomware which locks the victim's entire device. Blocking access to the operating system. The device will display a screen that makes the ransom demand instead of starting up as usual.

With these two types, we can further divide them into the following subcategories:

1. Leakware or Doxware. A ransomware that steals, exfiltrates, sensitive data and threatens to publish it.
2. Mobile ransomware. Includes all ransomware that affects mobile devices. 
3. Wipers or Destructive ransomware. It threatens to destroy data if the ransom isn't paid, except in cases where the ransomware destroys the data even if the ransom is paid.
4.  Scareware. It's just what it sounds like. A ransomware that scares users into paying a ransom.

Why is Ransomware Up?

As per Chainalysis, there are two reasons that together help to explain the upward trend in crypto-ransomware:

(1) Targeting of large, deep-pocketed organizations by ransomware attackers and (2) the number of successful small attacks. Both of these trends are evident, which shows how the distribution of ransomware payment sizes has changed since the year 2020.

For the latter half of this year, and if this current trend keeps on going up, attackers can expect a reel of about $898.6 million. IT will probably be one of the biggest amounts this category has ever seen, which is second only to the 2021 number of $939.9 million, not to compare them. We can conclude that it is a sign that ransomware isn't going anywhere anytime soon, even if there are other crypto scammers bagged up. 

Ransomware Attacks and Crypto

It's not just crypto that's been terrorized by ransomware. According to the FBI, critical US infrastructures were targeted for ransomware attacks with a grand total of 860 times across 2022. It's a shame to know as well that healthcare is one of the biggest industries to suffer from this type of cybercrime, given that there are large databases of sensitive health data that many companies in this space have access to.

For those that are crypto investors or business owners, you better take care of following up on any messages or emails that could expose your personal information. You could get a secured VPN, sign up for the best email security tools, and also be careful when downloading Windows updates; they're the latest way that ransomware hackers can steal your data.

Also published here.