The crypto industry has always been a paradise for cybercriminals. It is their hunting ground where they make big money. According to official data, in the period from July 2020 to July 2021, the volume of cyber extortion and crimes with digital assets exceeded $1 billion globally.
Importantly, the number of large-scale attacks where criminals blackmailed their victims has sharply increased. Only in 2021, the number of such cases exceeded 1,000. However, analysts are sure that a surge in the cyber criminals’ activity is primarily associated with a staggering rally of many digital assets and their growing popularity. High demand for crypto was followed by a surge in cryptocurrency fraud.
According to experts, cryptocurrency fraud will become even more evident in the foreseeable future.
Bitcoin’s stellar rise from $10,000 at the beginning of last year to $58,000 by the winter of this year definitely got the attention of crypto scammers. This is why the most popular target currency still appears to be bitcoin. As a result, the average amount of ransom paid by cyberattack victims reached about $250,000. However, oftentimes the figure exceeds $5-10 million.
For example, recently, cybercriminals targeted the customers of IT company Kaseya. Сriminals demand a $70 million ransom for the global decryption key.
