In 2021, cybercriminals made about $602 million using ransomware, report Chainalysis analysts. According to experts, the real earnings of hackers are much higher.
According to Chainalysis, Conti hackers, who are believed to be based in Russia, have made the most money. Payments to the group amounted to at least $180 million.
Next on the list are DarkSide, Phoenix Cryptolocker, REvil, Cuba, Clop, LockBit, Hive. Recall that members of the REvil group were detained in Moscow last month by the FSB.
Chainalysis notes the popularity of the rebrand among hacker groups. The scammers announce a closure and then reappear on the market under a different name. Thus, they strive for privacy. Analysts believe that this indicates the small size of the ransomware ecosystem. For example, during its existence, REvil launched several ransomware programs with different names: Doppelpayme, Bitpaymer, WastedLocker, Hades, Phoenix Cryptolocker, Grief, Macaw, PayloadBIN.
