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Britain s former cybersecurity chief, Ciaran Martin, has urged the government to review cyber insurance payouts being used to fund ransom payments. (Photo: Mathew Schwartz)
Crime doesn t pay - except perhaps when it comes to ransomware, which continues to fuel a massive surge in illicit proceeds. With such profits appearing to be at an all-time high, clearly something needs to be done to blunt ransomware-wielding extortionists force - but what?
Ransomware victims range from environmental regulators and construction firms to manufacturers and healthcare facilities - including those helping respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond disrupting businesses, such attacks also pose a public health risk; they potentially can compromise patient safety as hospitals continue to get hit.
Source: Chainalysis
Ransomware now dominates the cybercrime landscape, and one measure of its continuing success has been the surge in funds flowing to criminal-controlled cryptocurrency wallets.
Even so, here s some good news on the cybercrime front: Cryptocurrency-related crime fell significantly in 2020, reports blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
That s despite the value of bitcoin surging past $28,000 by the end of 2020, ahead of hitting a record high above $40,000 in early January. In 2019, criminal activity represented 2.1% of all cryptocurrency transaction volume, or roughly $21.4 billion worth of transfers, Chainalysis reports. In 2020, the criminal share of all cryptocurrency activity fell to just 0.34%, or $10 billion in transaction volume.
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Conti s data leaks site claims to have now published 7% of the files it stole from SEPA. (Source: Kela)
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency says a ransomware attack last month continues to cause serious outages and warns that ransom-demanding attackers also stole some data.
SEPA is the Scottish government s principal environmental regulator, charged with protecting the nation s environment. The nondepartmental public body - meaning it largely operates independently - has a staff of about 1,200.
The agency says it s still responding to the ransomware attack, which continues to disrupt services, as attackers demand the organization pay a ransom in return for a key to unlock their systems as well as a promise to stop leaking stolen information online.
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The U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued a warning to financial institutions to be alert to the threat of fraud, ransomware and other types of criminal activity targeting COVID-19 vaccines and their distribution.
The warning, issued Monday , states that COVID-19 vaccine fraud may include the sale of unapproved and illegally marketed vaccines, counterfeit versions of approved vaccines and the illegal diversion of legitimate vaccines. FinCEN claims that fraudsters are already offering to provide potential victims with a vaccine sooner than otherwise available for a fee.
Ransomware is specifically mentioned. The notice says operators will continue to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that there are current ransomware campaigns directly targeting vaccine research. FinCEN notes that it’s likely that similar attacks could be launched to disrupt the vaccine supply chain and delivery operations.