“We are facing a technology pandemic on the brink,” according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Elementus, which relates that ransomware gangs made over $1 billion in 2021, far higher than earlier estimates. Max Galka, Elementus’ CEO, said most ransomware attacks are now perpetrated by a few large groups based in Russia and other former Soviet republics, which Elementus warns are “becoming more agile, dangerous, and defiant every year.” Just four strains of ransomware software — Conti, Darkside, Phoenix Locker and Sodinokibi — brought in over $500 million in ransomware payments last year.
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