At the same time, the number of malicious programs used by attackers to encrypt victims’ data “exploded in 2022,” the report said. Cybersecurity company Fortinet identified 10,666 new ransomware variants in the first half of 2022, compared to just 5,400 in the same period in 2021. However, only a few variants bring significant profits to attackers: “The vast majority of ransomware revenue goes to a small group of tribes at any given time,” Chainalysis said.
Ransomware variants are on the rise, but overall profits are falling: a chain analysis
