Cyber Criminals earning less as victims are refusing to pay ransoms

Analysts at Chainalysis track the money flowing in and out of Bitcoin wallets which are known to be owned by ransomware crews. Researchers say the criminal proceeds will be much higher than those they can see, because the hackers are likely to use other wallets too. Cyber-crime gangs have had a 40% drop in earnings as victims are refusing to pay ransoms, researchers say. Cryptocurrency experts at Chainalysis say ransomware groups extorted at least $457m (£370m) from victims in 2022 – $311m less than the year before. How will the crypto coins be recovered ?