Russia-linked hackers amass 74% of ransomware revenues in 2021: Report

Ransomware was inarguably the most spoken word among enterprise IT security last year. Now, a new analysis by a blockchain data platform suggests that 74% of all the proceeds made through ransomware attacks in 2021 went to Russia-linked hackers. This was revealed by Chainalysis researchers, who claim that more than $400 million worth of crypto-currency payments went to groups that are affiliated with Russia. The study, part of Chainalysis’ 2022 Crypto Crime Report, zeroed in on dozen companies with a presence in Moscow City.

Incidentally, a report by the Russian cybersecurity company claimed that from January 2021 to November 2021, every second security incident investigated by Kaspersky was related to ransomware. The percentage shows a 12% increase in attacks as compared to the same period in 2020 fiscal.

Chainalysis said in a blog post, “An estimated 13% of funds sent from ransomware addresses to services went to users estimated to be in Russia, more than any other region. That brings us to another point: A huge amount of cryptocurrency-based money laundering, not just of ransomware funds but of funds associated with other forms of cybercrime as well, goes through services with substantial operations in Russia.” 

Chainalysis has also revealed that collectively, these businesses receive hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency per quarter, with totals peaking at nearly $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2021. In any given quarter, the illicit and risky addresses account for between 29% and 48% of all funds received by Moscow City in total, across the three-year period studied, these businesses have received nearly $700 million worth of cryptocurrency from illicit addresses, which represents 13% of all value they’ve received in that time, as per its findings.

However, Russia has denied the accusations of harbouring cyber-criminals. 

Ransomware kind of malwares have been infamous for bringing down critical infrastructures such as the gas pipelines of colonial pipeline in April 2021, and also Ireland’s National Health Services mission.