"Ransomware Victims Paid $460 Million in First Half of 2024"

According to security researchers at Chainalysis, ransomware payments and stolen cryptocurrency have increased in the first half of 2024.  The researchers 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.  The researchers believe 2024 is on track to becoming the highest-grossing year for ransomware payments.  The researchers said that 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. 

SecurityWeek reports: "Ransomware Victims Paid $460 Million in First Half of 2024"