Another Record Year For Ransomware Beckons as Crypto Profits Hit $460m

Ransomware actors are set for their highest-grossing year on record in 2024 after crypto inflows in the first half of the year reached $460m, according to Chainalysis.

The blockchain analysis firm made the prediction in its 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-Year Update.

In 2023, ransomware groups made over $1bn, after reaching $449m by the end of June, the report claimed.

So far this year, the largest ever single ransom payment has been recorded – $75m to the Dark Angels group.

Read more on crypto crime: Crypto Crime Down 62% but Ransomware Activity Surges

The huge sums making their way to mainly Russian cybercrime groups come despite major law enforcement operations that disrupted the prolific LockBit and ALPHV/BlackCat groups.

Crypto Thefts Increase

Elsewhere, Chainalysis revealed a resurgence in crypto theft via hacking, as threat actors return to targeting centralized exchanges after four years focusing on decentralized entities like DeFi services and cross-chain bridges.

“Cumulative value stolen this year through the end of July has already crested $1.6bn and is around 84% greater than the value stolen over the same period last year,” the report noted. “Interestingly, the number of hacking incidents in 2024 has only marginally outpaced that of 2023, rising at just 2.8% YoY.”

Chainalysis warned that threat actors including thousands of North Korean operatives are increasingly using sophisticated social engineering tactics, such as applying for IT jobs at exchanges, to steal crypto.

“The key to disrupting cybercrime is disrupting its supply chains, including attackers, affiliates, partners, infrastructure services providers, launderers and cashout points,” argued Chainalysis cybercrime research lead, Eric Jardine.

“Because the operations for crypto heists and ransomware operate almost entirely on the blockchain, law enforcement armed with the right solutions can follow the money to better understand and disrupt these actors’ operations.”

Despite the doom and gloom, overall figures for crypto crime appear to show a year-to-date (YTD) decline in profits of nearly 20% annually, from $20.9bn to $16.7bn.

Although the figure for 2024 YTD is sure to increase as analysts attribute more illicit addresses, this year’s estimate arguably captures more illegal activity as it builds in Chainalysis Signals intelligence based on on-chain data and heuristics to identify suspicious addresses.