Friday, August 11, 2017

In 2 years, ransomware raked in an estimated $25M - Roger Riddell, Education Dive

Estimates released by researchers from New York University, the University of California San Diego, Google and blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis peg the cost of ransomware over the past two years to over $25 million paid by victims. Campus Technology reports that the team's research looked at 300,000 files from over 30 types of ransomware, tracking the amount paid based on blockchain payments, with UCSD Computer Science and Engineering Ph.D. candidate Danny Yuxing Huang tracking the transfer of bitcoins from victims to ransomware operators to coin exchanges. The researchers say ransomware became a multi-million-dollar industry last year, with the lesser-known Locky being the first ransomware to bring in over $1 million in a month. http://www.educationdive.com/news/in-2-years-ransomware-raked-in-an-estimated-25m/448480/