Ransomware

FBI: US facing more cyberattacks, losses

Today’s columnist, Tim Helming of Domain Tools, writes that the FBI found that BEC fraud has become the highest-grossing type of cybercrime. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

More than 880,000 cybercrime complaints were recorded by the FBI in 2023, nearly 10% higher than the year prior, resulting in losses exceeding $12.5 billion, a 22% increase over 2022, The Register reports.

Ransomware infections reached 2,825 in 2023, an 18% increase over the previous year, amounting to over $59.6 million in losses, 74% higher than in 2022, a report from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center revealed. Thirty-seven percent more critical infrastructure entities were impacted by ransomware attacks last year, with such incidents reported across 14 of 16 critical infrastructure sectors. Moreover, LockBit, ALPHV/BlackCat, Akira, Royal, and Black Basta were the most dominant ransomware operations targeting critical infrastructure. The findings also showed the highest losses in investment fraud at $4.57 billion, which is 38% higher than in 2022, while losses from cryptocurrency scams and business email compromise attacks reached $3.94 billion and over $2.9 billion last year, respectively.

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