There has been a recent report from CipherTrace, the blockchain analytics company, which highlighted the importance of Monero and other private cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies that are hugely focused on privacy just like Monero have a huge responsibility in the increased ransomware tide. CipherTrace disclosed that the incident of double extortion increased by 500% regarding attacks of ransomware from the year 2020 to 2021.
An Increase Of 500% In Ransomware Attacks Using Monero For Payments
Attacks of ransomware basically deal with nasty and vengeful actors that steam the sensitive and vital data from the victim and then encrypt it for their illegal purpose. Chainalysis, another analytics company also gave similar reports which provided data that tells that the average crypto payments regarding ransomware have reached $600 million to date.
Another research proves that the previous year there were a lot of ransom payments that occurred in Monero and the attackers are increasing the payments which are premium and are made in bitcoin ranging from 10 to 20%. At least 22 strains of ransomware only accepted payments from Monero and a minimum of 7 cases accepted both XMR and BTC.
The high price of BTC is observed by the attackers and for them, it is an opportunity to deal with risks that are rising daily regarding the use of cryptocurrencies that are easily traceable like Bitcoin. As per the report, a group of ransomware from Russia is known as Everest Group and they have claimed that they hacked the Government of the United States in 2021.
The report from CipherTrace states that the group is now selling all the data for approximately $500,000 in XMR. DarkSide group are also Russian attackers who are accused of the attack on the Colonial Pipeline of the U.S. in 2021. Lastly, Monero utilizes a mixture of the latest technologies like ring signatures, mixers, and stealth addresses that obscure receiving and sending wallets.
