Ransomware authors are profiting from the rise of the cryptocurrency -- but it 's also bringing some unexpected problems for them and other dark web operators . The value of bitcoin has soared in recent days : at the one point the cryptocurrency was worth almost $ 19,000 before it dropped back to around $ 16,500 , where it has roughly remained since . It 's almost impossible to predict what will happen next . The price of bitcoin could rise again or it could crash -- but , for now at least , a single unit of the cryptocurrency is worth a significant amount of money . Bitcoin has become the popular payment method for ransomware over the last two years , as the digital currency provides cybercriminals with a means of collecting ransoms Attack.Ransom , while also making it difficult to get the ransom-collectors ' identities , thanks to the level of anonymity it offers . WannaCry Attack.Ransom , the biggest ransomware event of the year , for example , hit Attack.Ransom hundreds of thousands of PCs around the globe , encrypting files and demanding a payment Attack.Ransom of $ 300 in bitcoin for the safe return of what was stored on the machine . In this instance , the ransomware code itself was poorly written and the vast majority of victims were able to restore their systems without giving into the demands Attack.Ransom of the cyber-attackers . However , by the time those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom had withdrawn funds from the associated Bitcoin wallets -- a full three months after the attack -- it meant the 338 payments Attack.Ransom victims had made were worth around $ 140,000 , which was an increase in value of just under $ 50,000 compared to when the majority of payments were made Attack.Ransom . If those behind WannaCry Attack.Ransom have held onto their illicit investment , they could now be sitting on over $ 1m of bitcoin . But the sudden spike in bitcoin could actually be problematic for some cybercriminals . Before the surge in value , 1 or 0.5 bitcoin was a common ransom demand Attack.Ransom , with the idea that if the fee was low enough -- back then the ransom value worked out at a few hundred dollars -- this would encourage the victim to pay up Attack.Ransom . Even as the value of bitcoin steadily rose during the summer , some attackers were still using the standard amounts of cryptocurrency as their ransom demand Attack.Ransom . For example , Magniber ransomware demanded a payment Attack.Ransom of 0.2 bitcoin ( $ 1,138 in mid-October ) , rising to 0.4 bitcoin ( $ 2,275 in mid-October ) if the payment wasn't received Attack.Ransom within five days . Two months later , 0.2 bitcoin is currently worth $ 3,312 while 0.4 bitcoin is up to $ 6,625 . Many forms of ransomware already ask for the payment Attack.Ransom of a specified amount of dollars to be made in bitcoin . While it pins hopes on victims being able to buy a specific amount of bitcoin and successfully transfer the payment -- which some criminal gangs get around by manning help desks providing advice on buying cryptocurrency -- it 's more likely to result in the victim paying up Attack.Ransom , especially if the figure is just a few hundred dollars . `` I imagine the volatility of bitcoin pricing has been an unexpected problem for cybercriminals . The average ransom demand Attack.Ransom has remained somewhere between $ 300 to $ 1000 , and normally the ransom note will specify a USD amount , '' Andy Norton , director of threat intelligence at Lastline , told ZDNet . It is n't just ransomware distributors who might be faced with the problem of valuing items in pure bitcoin : a Dark Web vendor -- whether they are selling malware , weapons , drugs , or any other illegal item -- might find that setting their price in pure bitcoin will quickly result in them pricing themselves out of the market . With bitcoin prices continuing to rise , sophisticated cybercriminal operators can likely react to it , altering prices on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they 're able to sustain their business . Criminals are trying out alternative pricing models for ransomware already . Some criminals already operate around the idea that they charge Attack.Ransom victims just enough so that they do n't see the ransom Attack.Ransom as too much to pay Attack.Ransom -- and that often depends on the country the victims are in . The Fatboy ransomware payment scheme charges Attack.Ransom victims in poorer countries less than those in richer ones . Meanwhile , those behind Scarab ransomware have started asking Attack.Ransom victims to suggest a payment amount Attack.Ransom for receiving the encryption key for their files .

LabCorp experienced a breach this past weekend , which it nows says was a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . The intrusion has also prompted concerns that patient data may have also been stolen Attack.Databreach . One of the biggest clinical lab testing companies in the world , LabCorp , was hit Attack.Ransom with a `` new variant of ransomware '' over the weekend . `` LabCorp promptly took certain systems offline as a part of its comprehensive response to contain and remove the ransomware from its system , '' the company told PCMag in an email . `` We are working to restore additional systems and functions over the next several days . '' LabCorp declined to say what variant of ransomware was used . But according to The Wall Street Journal , the company was hit Attack.Ransom with a strain known as SamSam . In March , the same strain attacked Attack.Ransom the city of Atlanta 's IT network . Like other ransomware variants , SamSam will effectively lock down a computer , encrypting all the files inside , and then demand Attack.Ransom the victim pay up Attack.Ransom to free the system . In the Atlanta attack Attack.Ransom , the anonymous hackers demanded Attack.Ransom $ 51,000 , which the city government reportedly refused to pay Attack.Ransom . How much the hackers are demanding Attack.Ransom from LabCorp is n't clear ; the company declined to answer further questions about the attack Attack.Ransom or if it will pay the ransom Attack.Ransom . The lab testing provider first reported the breach on Monday , initially describing it as `` suspicious activity '' on the company 's IT systems that relate to healthcare diagnostics . This prompted fears that patient data may have been stolen Attack.Databreach . The North Carolina-based company processes more than 2.5 million lab tests per week and has over 1,900 patient centers across the US . `` LabCorp also has connections to most of the hospitals and other clinics in the United States , '' Pravin Kothari , CEO of cybersecurity firm CipherCloud , said in an email . `` All of this presents , at some point , perhaps an increased risk of cyber attacks propagating and moving through this expanded ecosystem . '' On Thursday , LabCorp issued a new statement and said the attack Attack.Ransom was a ransomware strain . At this point , the company has found `` no evidence of theft Attack.Databreach or misuse of data , '' but it 's continuing to investigate . `` As part of our in-depth and ongoing investigation into this incident , LabCorp has engaged outside security experts and is working with authorities , including law enforcement , '' the company added .

The group of hackers that leaked Attack.Databreach the upcoming fifth season of “ Orange Is the New Black ” this weekend may have also secured access Attack.Databreach to some three dozen other shows and movies . TheDarkOverlord , as the group calls itself , provided cybersecurity blog DataBreaches.net with a long list of movies and TV shows it claimed to have stolen Attack.Databreach from Larson Studios , a Hollywood-based audio post-production company . In addition to “ Orange Is the New Black , ” it also lists a number of high-profile shows from the big broadcast networks , including ABC ’ s “ The Catch , ” NBC ’ s “ Celebrity Apprentice , ” CBS ’ “ NCIS Los Angeles , ” and Fox ’ s “ New Girl. ” Other shows included are IFC ’ s “ Portlandia , ” FX ’ s “ It ’ s Always Sunny in Philadelphia , ” “ Breakthrough ” from NatGeo , E ! ’ s “ The Arrangement , ” “ Bunk ’ d ” from the Disney Channel , and Netflix ’ s “ Bill Nye Saves the World. ” The list also makes mention of a few movies , including the Netflix original “ Win It All , ” the Lifetime TV movie “ A Midsummers Nightmare , ” and a YouTube Red Liza Koshy special . It ’ s worth noting that this list is by no means confirmed . ABC , NBC , Fox , FX , IFC , and NatGeo all declined to comment when contacted by Variety . CBS and E ! did not respond . Netflix acknowledged the breach in a statement earlier this weekend , saying : “ We are aware of the situation . A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved. ” The company hasn ’ t commented on details of the leak . TheDarkOverlord suggested on Twitter earlier this weekend that it might be trying to extort Attack.Ransom Fox , IFC , Nat Geo , and ABC next , but it is unknown whether they may be in the process of trying to extort Attack.Ransom other studios and networks . The hackers had previously unsuccessfully tried to solicit extortion money Attack.Ransom from Larson Studios as well as Netflix to not release “ Orange Is the New Black , ” and may have used the release of the entire season this weekend as a way to pressure others to pay up Attack.Ransom .

Disney boss Bob Iger has said the mass media giant is being targeted by hackers who are trying to extort money Attack.Ransom from the firm by threatening to release a film they claim to have stolen Attack.Databreach . The CEO of the entertainment behemoth told ABC employees of the stand-off at a town hall meeting in New York , multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter . The hackers are said to have demanded Attack.Ransom a substantial payment Attack.Ransom in Bitcoin , and threatened to release five minutes of the unnamed film and then subsequent 20-minute chunks if their demands Attack.Ransom aren ’ t met . There are rumors circulating that the film in question could be upcoming blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men Tell No Tales , although the hackers are running out of time if so as it ’ s due to open next Friday . The news calls to mind a similar incident last month when a hacker uploaded the upcoming series of Netflix prison drama Orange is the New Black to The Pirate Bay after the streaming giant refused to pay up Attack.Ransom . In that instance , Netflix claimed that “ a production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised ” , highlighting the need for organizations in the entertainment sector to revisit their cyber-defenses and those of their partners . Mark James , security specialist at Eset , argued that anything of high value will be a target for thieves , be it digital or physical . “ Disney has refused to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom and rightly so . If you ’ re going to download the film from an unofficial or dodgy source anyway then a month before or a month after is not going to make much of a difference , ” he added . `` The film industry has been plagued with piracy issues as early as the 1960s and this is n't going to change anytime soon . Paying the ransom Attack.Ransom or indeed any ransom Attack.Ransom is generally frowned upon for many reasons . Funding other criminal activity , rewarding the bad guys or funding future attacks are all good reasons to not pay as the chances are it ’ s going to get released anyway . ”