Contrary to what one might expect, aggregate illicit activity on the blockchain decreased 19.6% from H1 2023 to H1 2024, falling from $20.9B to $16.7B. Although ChainAnalysis notes that illicit activity totals will likely rise over time, these statistics demonstrate that the legitimate use of blockchain technology is growing faster than illicit activities. What’s more, the year has already seen the most significant ransomware payment ever recorded at roughly $75 million to the Dark Angels ransomware group, and the median ransom payment to the most severe ransomware strains has spiked from just under $200,000 in early 2023 to $1.5 million in mid-June 2024. We’re over halfway through the year, and ChainAnalysis has released parts one and two of their 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-Year Update. The update provides valuable insight into the cryptocurrency and cybersecurity landscape, so let’s look at the key takeaways and what they mean. Total ransomware inflows rose slightly from $449.1 million in H1 2023 to $459.8 million in H1 2024. Pig-butchering scams, an especially dark scam technique that involves building trust and relationships with victims before exploiting them financially, generated the most revenue in H1 2024, with one Myanmar-based compound netting at least $101.22 million YTD. According to ChainAnalysis, in H1 2024, Huinone Guarantee, an online marketplace associated with the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, emerged as a marketplace for cybercrime. Reporting of China-based CSAM sites has grown since late 2023, capturing a larger share of global CSAM inflows, which peaked at 38.8% of total inflows in Q1 2024 . Despite spending the past few years targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, cybercriminals in H1 2024 have returned their attention to centralized exchanges, likely because they are more lucrative targets. The Chain Analysis 2024 mid-year update reveals a rapidly changing crypto crime landscape characterized by increasingly sophisticated and adaptable cybercriminals. Unfortunately, despite a general decline in on-chain illicit activity, stolen funds rose significantly in H1 2024. Stolen funds inflows nearly doubled from $857 million to $1.58 billion, while ransomware inflows rose by approximately 2%, from $449.1 million to $459.8 million. An analysis of on-chain activity reveals that many of these sites allow users to purchase access to illicit materials for as long as 20,000 days (54 years) for just $41.
This Cyber News was published on www.tripwire.com. Publication date: Tue, 01 Oct 2024 10:13:06 +0000