Ransomware hackers made less money in 2022, says an analysis of money transfers on crypto wallets. The United States has also strongly discouraged paying the sums demanded by the pirates.
Performance bonuses will be lower among hackers. According to a report by Chainalysis published on January 19, 2023, the total money sent to the cryptocurrency wallets of ransomware groups fell by 40.3%, from $765.5 million in revenue in 2021 to $456.8 million in 2022. Several indicators reveal that the refusal to pay, institutionalized in the United States, is at the origin of this decline. ” Since 2019, victim payment rates have fallen from 76% to just 41% “, note the researchers. The company tracks cryptocurrency transactions around the world and can therefore analyze in detail the payments to accounts held by hackers.
Note that policy in the United States has strongly discouraged the payment of ransoms to criminals. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control warned in a 2021 advisory that it could take action if victims pay money to an administration-listed criminal organization. In March 2022, Congress passed a law that requires critical infrastructure entities to report any hacker payments they make. Since last summer, the payment of a ransom has been prohibited in two federal states, Florida and North Carolina.
Australia is considering banning payment to hackers, following a wave of cyberattacks that made the data of tens of millions of citizens public. However, no government has yet passed such a law.
Lower income does not mean lower business
In France, the National Information Systems Security Agency (ANSSI), regularly reminds that the payment of the ransom is not recommended. In general, the cyber community believes that crime should not be financed and hackers should be encouraged to continue their activity.
The government went against the grain with a bill, adopted in November by the National Assembly, authorizing the reimbursement of the amount paid to hackers by insurance, provided that the victim files a complaint within 48 hours. According to the Ministry responsible for the Digital Transition, the first step would be to encourage companies to report attacks, rather than concealing them to avoid a bad public image.
It should also be remembered that the drop in annual income does not mean that hackers will slow down their activity. Chainalysis recorded a “boom” in the number of malware in activity last year, citing Fortinet, which reported more than 10,000 unique ransomware strains active in the first half of 2022. The market is still in turmoil and the groups most prolifics continue their hunt for businesses in 2023.
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