Fresh affiliate programs helped ransomware-as-a-service operators achieve record profits in 2020. (Source: Group-IB) Ransomware dominated the online-enabled crime landscape in 2020, some security experts say, thanks to the massive profits it's been generating and the relative ease of use for attackers - including support from a burgeoning cybercrime-as-a-service market. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis this week reported that it's found just under $370 million in known 2020 ransomware profits - via ransoms that got paid - which represents a 336% increase over known 2019 earnings. The firm continues to update those estimates as it identifies previously unknown cryptocurrency wallets tied to gangs. IBM Security X-Force, in its latest Threat Intelligence Index, says that of the incidents it investigated in 2020, 23% could be attributed to ransomware, up from 20% in 2019. The most-seen strains tied to attacks that it saw were Sodinokibi/REvil (in 22% of ransomware incidents), Nefilim (11%), RagnarLocker (7%), NetWalker (7%), Maze (7%), Ryuk (7%) and Ekans (4%). Maze announced its retirement last November, while the NetWalker gang was disrupted by law enforcement operations in January.