New data suggests that crypto payments associated with ransomware—a kind of malware geared toward extortion—were on the rise in 2020.
In a newly published excerpt of its annual Crypto Crime Report, the blockchainblockchain data firm Chainalysis has said that criminal addresses received 311% more cryptocurrencycryptocurrency from ransomware in 2020 than they did in 2019. The report also warns that this is likely a conservative estimate, since Chainalysis is likely to identify more addresses connected to ransomware payments retroactively.
The company hedged similarly with last year’s figures: the Crypto Crime Report for 2019 posited that 1.1% of all crypto transactions were criminal—this year, it found the true number is more like 2.1%, or around $21.4 billion in assorted cryptocurrencies.
The report’s best guess for 2020 is 0.34%, which the report says will grow, too, as more scams are unearthed. If there’s good news, it’s that the starting point is significantly lower: around $10.0 billion.
And while payments connected with ransomware grew significantly this year, they still only account for 7% of that $10 billion. The vast majority of criminal crypto payments had to do with darknet markets and the general category of “scams.”
The report also offers a potential explanation for the increase in ransomware-connected payments during 2020. “Covid-prompted work-from-home measures,” it suggests, “opened up new vulnerabilities for many organizations.”
Bitcoin may have played a role in financing the January 6 riot at the Capitol, according to new research from blockchain data company Chainalysis.
In the days since hundreds of violent Trump supporters made their way into the seat of government, new information has emerged suggesting the riot was premeditated.
Now, Chainalysis reports that, on December 8, a donor sent 28.15 BTC, or around approximately $522,000 at the time it was transferred, to 22 separate addresses, many of which belonged to...
Ransomware programs have been aggressively targeting hospitals and schools during the pandemic, according to NPR and the Wall Street Journal, as attackers look to take advantage of vulnerable systems at vulnerable institutions.
Joshua Corman, a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, told the Journalthat the concern with ransomware was more than just financial—attacks on medical facilities, he said, may “lead to a demonstrable loss of life.”
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
DFZ Labs, the creators of the Ethereum NFT project Deadfellaz, will launch a new asset verification tool that allows users to connect online and offline assets without signing blind transactions or smart contract approvals.
Coldlink, now in beta, enables blockchain users to connect their blockchain address to any asset in Web2, Web3, or real life without incurring the security risk of blind signing or smart contract approvals, DFZ Labs said.
“To ‘Coldlink’ something is to connect any digital ass...
Scammers are using cracked versions of TradingView Premium to drain crypto wallets.
The app is disguised as a “cracked” version of the real TradingView Premium app. Downloads of the malware infused versions are being distributed via Reddit and have often been found in cryptocurrency sub Reddits.
Victims have reported having their entire crypto wallets emptied. They were then impersonated by the scammers, who used their details to send out phishing attempts encouraging the victims’ contacts to d...
In a London office on Thursday, BitcoinOS developers completed the final code commit that would open-source BitSNARK, a specialized protocol enabling zero-knowledge verification on Bitcoin.
The move to open-source BitSNARK “unlocks programmability on Bitcoin” and aims to help developers “build and experiment in ways that were previously impossible,” Edan Yago, CEO and co-founder of BitcoinOS, told Decrypt.
The release follows BitcoinOS's July 2024 demo, which verified the first zero-knowledge pr...