More than just investors, miners, and businesses are being impacted by the crypto winter; cybercriminals are also being forced to reevaluate their ransomware strategies and frequently turn to other types of computer crime like conventional malware attacks and phishing scams that bring in cash rather than cryptocurrency.
Over the past few months, cryptocurrency values have fallen precipitously. The largest of them all, Bitcoin, is presently circling about $20,000 after reaching a record high of around $68,000 late last year. Companies that trade in digital assets, crypto miners, and even entire nations have all felt the effects of the meltdown.
Ransomware gangs, who demand cryptocurrency from victims as payment, are also taking note of the declining price of cryptocurrency. According to Mark Lance, GuidePoint Security’s vice president of cyberdefense and a ransomware negotiator, the crooks must now want more cryptocurrency in order to earn the same amount when it is turned into dollars, as reported by CNET.
Even if the requests are for the same amount of money, this can frequently make them appear greater.
Dark web cryptocurrency exchanges are feeling the pinch much like regular businesses that deal with cryptocurrencies. Since April, when Bitcoin was about $47,000, around 30 of these exchanges have shut down, according to Cybersixgill, an Israeli threat intelligence company.
Due to this, some ransomware gangs have begun to engage in other, more established types of cybercrime, such as phishing assaults, software that steals user credentials, and remote banking trojans, all of which net the offenders financial rewards in dollars rather than cryptocurrency.
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