Ransom payments in cryptocurrencies due to ransomware attacks nearly doubled last year, reaching $1.1 billion (CZK 23.5 billion). This is according to a study published today by analyst firm Chainalysis. British Airways, Shell and the BBC, for example, did not escape attack last year.
Public institutions have also become victims
Ransomware is software that aims to disable or severely restrict a victim’s access to data or entire systems until they pay a ransom.
Criminals often target institutions such as hospitals, schools and government offices online in this way.
The study cannot take into account all illegal activities
In the last few years, however, the prevailing strategy has been to “hunt the big animals”, i.e. big companies. Payments of $1 million or more account for a dominant share of total ransom revenue, Chainalysis found.
The data in the study underestimates the role of cryptocurrencies in all crimes because it only tracks cryptocurrencies sent to wallet addresses flagged as illegal, Reuters points out.
For example, the research does not account for cryptocurrency payments in drug trafficking.
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