• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Malware
  • Ransomware creators are laundering their Bitcoin rapidly since the currency value is dropping

Ransomware creators are laundering their Bitcoin rapidly since the currency value is dropping

Pierluigi Paganini April 24, 2015

The drop in the value of the Bitcoin is pushing cyber criminals to rapidly cash-out their ears with ransomware in order to monetize their efforts.

The business made by exploiting Ransomware has seen better days, all because the value of Bitcoin is dropping, that means, to avoid losing more money crooks are laundering money.

“They( criminals)  use Bitcoin for the money laundering part and take payment with it, but they’ll move it out almost immediately. Most of them won’t keep bitcoins – they don’t like the valuations Bitcoin has – so they just use it as a layer of obfuscation, and move it to a different form of money.” Etay Maor, senior fraud prevention strategist at IBM Security told to The Register.

The reason for this is easy to understand when you realize that in December 2013 Bitcoin was worth US$1,147 (1,055€, £ 758) and the current value is US$238 (£158, €216).

ransomware and bitcoin prices

Authors of Ransomware use to accept only bitcoins payments to unlock the system of encrypted files because the pseudo anonymity of its transactions.

Etay Maor added that malware masterminds and operators launder their ransom bitcoins into other online currencies or using “mules” and convert the funds through their accounts in exchange for a commission.

These “mules” are normally recruited online, but their profile differs from each other, depending on the mule’s geo location. For example in Europe, mules are generally retirees looking for some extra income, working from home, but for example in Asia , who most common profile of “mules” this role is played by students looking for an extra income, where they get between 15 and 20% of the laundered money.

In any of these cases, most of them don’t actually know what they are doing, until law enforcement shows up in their front door, and the malware creation continues on the loose, going on with the classic extortion scheme.

Nowadays we are also starting seeing botnet owners entering in the scam, by offering to install ransomware on machines, and also seeing ransomware spreading in websites, by gradually encrypted the website’s database.

Since it doesn’t exist an effective way to block these threats, please be careful with any type of emails you receive, back up your data regularly and store your backup’s offline.

About the Author Elsio Pinto

Elsio Pinto is at the moment the Lead Mcafee Security Engineer at Swiss Re, but he also as knowledge in the areas of malware research, forensics, ethical hacking. He had previous experiences in major institutions being the European Parliament one of them. He is a security enthusiast and tries his best to pass his knowledge. He also owns his own blog http://high54security.blogspot.com/

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – ransomware, Bitcoin)


facebook linkedin twitter

Bitcoin Cybercrime extortion malware money laundering ransomware

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

    Cyber Crime / July 28, 2025

    China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

    Hacking / July 28, 2025

    Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

    Data Breach / July 27, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT