A Menacing Resurgence: Ransomware

Researchers at a leading cryptocurrency tracing company have bad news for Washington: Ransomware is back, and it might be worse than ever.

Through the first four months of this year, cybercriminal gangs are on pace to surpass their earnings from a record-setting 2021, according to new data collected by Chainalysis.

The bounceback in extortion revenue follows a 40 percent dip in ransom payments in 2022, which many had interpreted as a promising sign the Biden administration was making headway against keyboard crooks.

2023 ‘could be one of, if not the, highest grossing years in ransomware yet,’ Jackie Burns Koven, head of cyber threat intelligence at Chainalysis, said Friday at the Sleuthcon cybercrime conference in Arlington, Va..