Bitcoin-based ransomware attacks are an interesting phenomenon. But who cares? They’re tiny. That was pretty much my opinion about ransomware until a few months ago. I formed it after reading a paper in early 2018 that used blockchain analysis to measure the ransomware market. The authors concluded that just $13 million in bitcoin had been paid out in ransom from 2013 to 2017, a "relatively low” amount compared to the “hype surrounding the issue.” But headlines throughout 2018 and 2019 indicate that this benign view may no longer be valid. Whereas early ransomware strains such as Locky asked for ransoms of just 0.5-1 ... (full story)