The global anti-ransomware agency Numerama has confirmed that most ransomware attacks originate from Russia.
The ransomware works by encrypting victims’ data, and hackers usually offer the victim a decryption key in exchange for cryptocurrency payments such as bitcoin, which can run into hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, and if the victim resists, hackers increasingly threaten to leak confidential data in an effort to squeeze.
The number of ransomware attacks reported to the US authorities in the second half of 2021 amounted to 793, adding that 75% of those attacks had a link with Russia, its agents, or people acting for its benefit.
According to the newspaper, some of the leaders of the ransomware groups live in Russia a luxurious life, and it said that their activities are covered by the highest authority in the country, the Kremlin.
Numerama revealed in January of this year that Russia officially announced the arrest of hackers working with a group known as “REvil”, but it was clear that this arrest was “just a theatrical”, because these people live normally in Russia.
Moscow is benefiting from the activity of “cybercriminals” whose activities are focused on Western countries and never target Russia.
Figures show that ransomware gangs earned nearly $350 million in 2020, a threefold increase from 2019, according to members of a group called the Ransomware Task Force.
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