The murky ecosystem of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom comes into focus in new research led by Damon McCoy , an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , which encrypt and hold a computer user 's files hostage in exchange for payment Attack.Ransom , extort Attack.Ransom millions of dollars from individuals each month , and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack . In a paper slated for presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May , McCoy and a team including researchers from the University of California , San Diego ; Princeton University ; Google ; and the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis provide the first detailed account of the ransomware payment ecosystem , from initial attack to cash-out . Key findings include the discovery that South Koreans are disproportionately impacted Attack.Ransom by ransomware campaigns , with analysis revealing that $ 2.5 million of the $ 16 million in ransomware payments Attack.Ransom tracked by the researchers was paid Attack.Ransom in South Korea . The paper 's authors call for additional research to determine the reason that so many South Koreans are victimized and how they can be protected . The team also found that most ransomware operators used a Russian bitcoin exchange , BTC-E , to convert bitcoin to fiat currencies . ( BTC-E has since been seized by the FBI . ) The researchers estimate that at least 20,000 individuals made ransomware payments Attack.Ransom over the past two years , at a confirmed cost of $ 16 million , although the actual payment total is likely far higher . McCoy and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom payments Attack.Ransom over a two-year period¬ . Bitcoins are the most common currency of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom , and because most victims do not own them , the initial bitcoin purchase provides a starting point for tracking payments . Each ransomware victim is often given a unique payment address that directs to a bitcoin wallet where the ransom Attack.Ransom is collected . The research team tapped public reports of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom to identify these addresses and correlate them with blockchain transactions . To boost the number of transactions available for analysis , the team also executed real ransomware binaries in a controlled experimental environment , essentially becoming victims themselves and making micropayments to real ransom wallets in order to follow the bitcoin trail . `` Ransomware operators ultimately direct bitcoin to a central account that they cash out periodically , and by injecting a little bit of our own money into the larger flow we could identify those central accounts , see the other payments flowing in , and begin to understand the number of victims and the amount of money being collected , '' McCoy said . The research team acknowledged that ethical issues prevent exploration of certain aspects of the ransomware ecosystem , including determining the percentage of victims who actually pay Attack.Ransom to recover their files . McCoy explained that despite having the ability to check for activity connected to a specific payment address , doing so would effectively `` start the clock '' and potentially cause victims to either pay a double ransom Attack.Ransom or lose the opportunity to recover their files altogether . Criminal use of cryptocurrencies is one of McCoy 's research focuses . He and fellow researchers previously tracked human traffickers through their use of Bitcoin advertising .

The murky ecosystem of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom comes into focus in new research led by Damon McCoy , an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , which encrypt and hold a computer user 's files hostage in exchange for payment Attack.Ransom , extort Attack.Ransom millions of dollars from individuals each month , and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack . In a paper slated for presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May , McCoy and a team including researchers from the University of California , San Diego ; Princeton University ; Google ; and the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis provide the first detailed account of the ransomware payment ecosystem , from initial attack to cash-out . Key findings include the discovery that South Koreans are disproportionately impacted Attack.Ransom by ransomware campaigns , with analysis revealing that $ 2.5 million of the $ 16 million in ransomware payments Attack.Ransom tracked by the researchers was paid Attack.Ransom in South Korea . The paper 's authors call for additional research to determine the reason that so many South Koreans are victimized and how they can be protected . The team also found that most ransomware operators used a Russian bitcoin exchange , BTC-E , to convert bitcoin to fiat currencies . ( BTC-E has since been seized by the FBI . ) The researchers estimate that at least 20,000 individuals made ransomware payments Attack.Ransom over the past two years , at a confirmed cost of $ 16 million , although the actual payment total is likely far higher . McCoy and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom payments Attack.Ransom over a two-year period¬ . Bitcoins are the most common currency of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom , and because most victims do not own them , the initial bitcoin purchase provides a starting point for tracking payments . Each ransomware victim is often given a unique payment address that directs to a bitcoin wallet where the ransom Attack.Ransom is collected . The research team tapped public reports of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom to identify these addresses and correlate them with blockchain transactions . To boost the number of transactions available for analysis , the team also executed real ransomware binaries in a controlled experimental environment , essentially becoming victims themselves and making micropayments to real ransom wallets in order to follow the bitcoin trail . `` Ransomware operators ultimately direct bitcoin to a central account that they cash out periodically , and by injecting a little bit of our own money into the larger flow we could identify those central accounts , see the other payments flowing in , and begin to understand the number of victims and the amount of money being collected , '' McCoy said . The research team acknowledged that ethical issues prevent exploration of certain aspects of the ransomware ecosystem , including determining the percentage of victims who actually pay Attack.Ransom to recover their files . McCoy explained that despite having the ability to check for activity connected to a specific payment address , doing so would effectively `` start the clock '' and potentially cause victims to either pay a double ransom Attack.Ransom or lose the opportunity to recover their files altogether . Criminal use of cryptocurrencies is one of McCoy 's research focuses . He and fellow researchers previously tracked human traffickers through their use of Bitcoin advertising .

The murky ecosystem of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom comes into focus in new research led by Damon McCoy , an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , which encrypt and hold a computer user 's files hostage in exchange for payment Attack.Ransom , extort Attack.Ransom millions of dollars from individuals each month , and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack . In a paper slated for presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May , McCoy and a team including researchers from the University of California , San Diego ; Princeton University ; Google ; and the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis provide the first detailed account of the ransomware payment ecosystem , from initial attack to cash-out . Key findings include the discovery that South Koreans are disproportionately impacted Attack.Ransom by ransomware campaigns , with analysis revealing that $ 2.5 million of the $ 16 million in ransomware payments Attack.Ransom tracked by the researchers was paid Attack.Ransom in South Korea . The paper 's authors call for additional research to determine the reason that so many South Koreans are victimized and how they can be protected . The team also found that most ransomware operators used a Russian bitcoin exchange , BTC-E , to convert bitcoin to fiat currencies . ( BTC-E has since been seized by the FBI . ) The researchers estimate that at least 20,000 individuals made ransomware payments Attack.Ransom over the past two years , at a confirmed cost of $ 16 million , although the actual payment total is likely far higher . McCoy and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom payments Attack.Ransom over a two-year period¬ . Bitcoins are the most common currency of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom , and because most victims do not own them , the initial bitcoin purchase provides a starting point for tracking payments . Each ransomware victim is often given a unique payment address that directs to a bitcoin wallet where the ransom Attack.Ransom is collected . The research team tapped public reports of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom to identify these addresses and correlate them with blockchain transactions . To boost the number of transactions available for analysis , the team also executed real ransomware binaries in a controlled experimental environment , essentially becoming victims themselves and making micropayments to real ransom wallets in order to follow the bitcoin trail . `` Ransomware operators ultimately direct bitcoin to a central account that they cash out periodically , and by injecting a little bit of our own money into the larger flow we could identify those central accounts , see the other payments flowing in , and begin to understand the number of victims and the amount of money being collected , '' McCoy said . The research team acknowledged that ethical issues prevent exploration of certain aspects of the ransomware ecosystem , including determining the percentage of victims who actually pay Attack.Ransom to recover their files . McCoy explained that despite having the ability to check for activity connected to a specific payment address , doing so would effectively `` start the clock '' and potentially cause victims to either pay a double ransom Attack.Ransom or lose the opportunity to recover their files altogether . Criminal use of cryptocurrencies is one of McCoy 's research focuses . He and fellow researchers previously tracked human traffickers through their use of Bitcoin advertising .

The murky ecosystem of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom comes into focus in new research led by Damon McCoy , an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering . Ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , which encrypt and hold a computer user 's files hostage in exchange for payment Attack.Ransom , extort Attack.Ransom millions of dollars from individuals each month , and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack . In a paper slated for presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May , McCoy and a team including researchers from the University of California , San Diego ; Princeton University ; Google ; and the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis provide the first detailed account of the ransomware payment ecosystem , from initial attack to cash-out . Key findings include the discovery that South Koreans are disproportionately impacted Attack.Ransom by ransomware campaigns , with analysis revealing that $ 2.5 million of the $ 16 million in ransomware payments Attack.Ransom tracked by the researchers was paid Attack.Ransom in South Korea . The paper 's authors call for additional research to determine the reason that so many South Koreans are victimized and how they can be protected . The team also found that most ransomware operators used a Russian bitcoin exchange , BTC-E , to convert bitcoin to fiat currencies . ( BTC-E has since been seized by the FBI . ) The researchers estimate that at least 20,000 individuals made ransomware payments Attack.Ransom over the past two years , at a confirmed cost of $ 16 million , although the actual payment total is likely far higher . McCoy and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom payments Attack.Ransom over a two-year period¬ . Bitcoins are the most common currency of ransomware payments Attack.Ransom , and because most victims do not own them , the initial bitcoin purchase provides a starting point for tracking payments . Each ransomware victim is often given a unique payment address that directs to a bitcoin wallet where the ransom Attack.Ransom is collected . The research team tapped public reports of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom to identify these addresses and correlate them with blockchain transactions . To boost the number of transactions available for analysis , the team also executed real ransomware binaries in a controlled experimental environment , essentially becoming victims themselves and making micropayments to real ransom wallets in order to follow the bitcoin trail . `` Ransomware operators ultimately direct bitcoin to a central account that they cash out periodically , and by injecting a little bit of our own money into the larger flow we could identify those central accounts , see the other payments flowing in , and begin to understand the number of victims and the amount of money being collected , '' McCoy said . The research team acknowledged that ethical issues prevent exploration of certain aspects of the ransomware ecosystem , including determining the percentage of victims who actually pay Attack.Ransom to recover their files . McCoy explained that despite having the ability to check for activity connected to a specific payment address , doing so would effectively `` start the clock '' and potentially cause victims to either pay a double ransom Attack.Ransom or lose the opportunity to recover their files altogether . Criminal use of cryptocurrencies is one of McCoy 's research focuses . He and fellow researchers previously tracked human traffickers through their use of Bitcoin advertising .

In recent years , ransomware has become a growing concern for companies in every industry . Between April 2015 and March 2016 , the number of individuals affected by ransomware surpassed 2 million — a 17.7 % increase from the previous year . Ransomware attacks function by breaching systems , usually through infected email , and locking important files or networks until the user pays a specified amount of money . According to FBI statistics cited in a Malwarebytes report , hackers gained more than $ 209 million from ransomware payments Attack.Ransom in the first three months of 2016 , putting ransomware on track to rake in nearly $ 1 billion this year . But as a result of increased ransom-avoidance , cybercriminals have created an even more insidious threat . Imagine malware that combines ransomware with a personal data leak Attack.Databreach : this is what the latest threat , doxware , looks like . With doxware , hackers hold computers hostage Attack.Ransom until the victim pays the ransom Attack.Ransom , similar to ransomware . But doxware takes the attack further by compromising Attack.Databreach the privacy of conversations , photos , and sensitive files , and threatening to release them publicly unless the ransom is paid Attack.Ransom . Because of the threatened release , it 's harder to avoid paying the ransom Attack.Ransom , making the attack Attack.Ransom more profitable for hackers . In 2014 , Sony Pictures suffered an email phishing malware attack Attack.Phishing that released Attack.Databreach private conversations between top producers and executives discussing employees , actors , industry competitors , and future film plans , among other sensitive topics . And ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom have claimed a number of recent victims , especially healthcare systems , including MedStar Health , which suffered a major attack Attack.Ransom affecting 10 hospitals and more than 250 outpatient centers in March 2016 . Combine the data leak Attack.Databreach of Sony and the ransomware attack Attack.Ransom on MedStar and you can see the potential fallout from a doxware attack . Doxware requires strategic , end-to-end planning , which means hackers will target their victims more deliberately . Looking at the data leaked Attack.Databreach from Sony , it 's easy to imagine the catastrophic effect doxware would have on an executive of any major corporation . Company leaders hold countless conversations over email each day on sensitive topics ranging from product development to competition to internal politics , and if there 's a doxware attack , the fallout could be extensive . Expect Things to Get WorseThe technology behind doxware is still new , but expect the problem to become worse . Recent attacks have been contained to Windows desktop computers and laptops , but this will certainly change . Once the malware can infiltrate mobile devices , the threat will become even more pervasive , with text messages , photos , and data from apps at risk for being leaked Attack.Databreach . It 's also highly likely that doxware will target more types of files . Workplace emails are currently a big target for hackers . However , a company 's internal communications/instant messaging network is also appealing to hackers using doxware , as the messaging network often serves as a platform where both sensitive business discussion and casual conversations take place , potentially exposing both company secrets and personally embarrassing exchanges . One of these variants hold files ransom Attack.Ransom with the threat of release and then steals Attack.Databreach a victim 's passwords . Another mutation , Popcorn Time , takes doxware even further giving victims the option to infect two of their friends with the malware instead of paying the ransom Attack.Ransom .