North Korea leads the world in crypto crime, with over 15 documented instances of cyber theft amounting to $1.59 billion in stolen funds. However, the recent crypto market turmoil has wiped out millions of dollars from the country’s stolen crypto portfolio. The crypto market rundown that started in May wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars from the crypto industry, where most of the crypto assets fell by over 70% from their top. As a result majority of stolen crypto funds by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) hackers have registered a significant plunge as well. A report from …

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has launched a hotline that will accept reports o incidents of hackers demanding cryptocurrency payments from platforms or companies. In a Wednesday blog post, Chainalysis said its "Crypto Incident Response" hotline would operate 24/7 for victims of a “hack, ransomware attack, code exploit or flash loan attack” in which “cryptocurrency funds are either demanded or stolen.” The company attributed the launch of the reporting service on crypto-related ransomware attacks presenting “national security concerns” as well as potentially undermining confidence in the crypto industry. According to Chainalysis, hackers were responsible for the loss of more than $3 …

The collection and processing of information was a major theme at the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) hearing titled, “Rising Threats: Ransomware Attacks and Ransom Payments Enabled by Cryptocurrency” on Tuesday. The committee hosted a panel of private-sector experts who discussed the problem of ransomware attacks and the challenges of collecting and using the information necessary to fight them. Committee chair Gary Peters of Michigan, who introduced the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act in February, said the government lacks sufficient data even to understand the scope of the threat posed by ransomware attacks. Attackers almost …

Monero (XMR) has shown a surprising resilience against the United States Federal Reserve’s hawkish policies that pushed the prices of most of its crypto rivals — including the top dog Bitcoin (BTC) — lower last week. XMR price closed the previous week 2.37% higher at $217, data from Binance shows. In comparison, BTC, which typically influences the broader crypto market, finished the week down 11.55%. The second-largest crypto, Ether (ETH), also plunged 11% in the same period. While the crypto market wiped off $163.25 billion from its valuation last week, down nearly 9%, Monero’s market cap increased by $87.7 million, …

Governments around the globe have also become more aware of the crypto market and the various ways in which it can be regulated. Despite a growing adoption rate and involvement of mainstream financial giants, however, naysayers continue to portray crypto as a tool for miscreants and criminals. Several crypto platforms and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have been compromised over the years, owing to various code vulnerabilities or centralization problems. However, stealing of money is the easiest part, while moving that money and cashing it out is nearly impossible. This is primarily because most crypto transactions are recorded on a public …

Australian financial compliance enforcement agency AUSTRAC has released two new guides to help entities spot when customers are using crypto for illicit means or when they are being forced to pay the creators of ransomware. But, it warned that debanking customers merely on suspicion of such activity was a harmful practice with serious negative effects. In an announcement posted earlier today, AUSTRAC noted that the growing acceptance, value and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology has been accompanied by an increase in cybercrime. “Cyber-enabled crime is an increasing threat to Australians. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), 500 …

A new report by blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace highlights the growing role that privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero are playing in the rising tide of ransomware. “Current Trends in Ransomware” delves into trends observed during 2021 but was only released this week. The firm revealed there was almost a 500% increase in “double extortion” ransomware attacks from 2020 to 2021. These are cyber attacks in which malicious actors steal a victim’s sensitive data in addition to encrypting it. The report echoes similar findings from analytics firm Chainalysis, which reported that overall ransomware crypto payments topped $600 million for the period. …

2020 was a record year for ransomware payments ($692 million), and 2021 will probably be higher when all the data is in, Chainalysis recently reported. Moreover, with the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war, ransomware’s use as a geopolitical tool — not just a money grab — is expected to grow as well. But, a new U.S. law could stem this rising extortionist tide. United States President Joe Biden recently signed into law the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act, or the Peters bill, requiring infrastructure firms to report to the government substantial cyber-attacks within 72 hours and within 24 hours if they …

Just between July 2020 and June 2021, ransomware activity soared by a whopping 1,070%, according to a recent Fortinet report, with other researchers confirming the proliferation of this mode of extortion. Mimicking the prevalent business model of the legitimate tech world, ransomware-as-a-service portals popped up in the darker corners of the web, institutionalizing the shadow industry and slashing the skill ceiling for wannabe-criminals. The trend should be ringing a warning bell through the crypto ecosystem, particularly since ransomware attackers do have a knack for payments in crypto. That said, the industry that was once a Wild Wild West is now …

According to a new report published by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis on Monday, approximately 74%, or over $400 million USD, of ransomware revenue last year were funneled into high-risk wallet addresses that are likely to be based in Russia. The report analyzed ransomware hacks throughout 2021 and determined their affiliation to Russia through three key charactersitics: Traces of Russia-based cybercriminal organization Evil Corp being behind a given breach; the group has alleged ties to the Russian government. Ransomeware programmed only against victims of non-former-Soviet countries. Ransomware strains that share documents and announcements in the Russian language. In addition to the …

A new report estimates that ransomware payments tallied at least $602 million in 2021 — but the actual total could be much higher. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis released new data on Feb. 10 about ransomware activity related to cryptocurrency in 2021. However it stated that the total value is likely to end up surpassing the $692 million taken in 2020. “In fact, despite these numbers, anecdotal evidence, plus the fact that ransomware revenue in the first half of 2021 exceeded that of the first half of 2020, suggests to us that 2021 will eventually be revealed to have been an …

The United States Department of the Treasury has announced it will impose sanctions on the cryptocurrency exchange Chatex and its support network for allegedly facilitating transactions for ransomware actors. In an advisory update issued on Nov. 8, the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, added Chatex as well as IZIBITS OU, Chatextech SIA, and Hightrade Finance to its list of entities sanctioned by the U.S. government. The department claimed Chatex has “direct ties” with Czech Republic and Russia-based business Suex OTC, which it sanctioned in September. According to OFAC, Chatex has helped facilitate transactions for ransomware groups, …