Cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to profit from their victims’ data or passwords. They can sell that information on the Dark Web, infect systems and encrypt files for ransom or simply get paid to take down a server. Now, how much money does a hacker earn per month? We talk about it in this article, where we show the data of cybercriminals from the Conti ransomware group.
Salary of a cyber criminal
We can say that the Conti ransomware is one of the main ones. What this type of malware does is infect a computer and automatically encrypt all files. In this way the victim cannot open their Word documents, PDF, etc. They can even make it impossible to turn on Windows. To profit, to earn money, what they do is ask for a ransom in exchange for releasing those files and systems.
So how much can a hacker from this group earn per month? According to the cybersecurity company Secureworks, which has published a series of leaked chat logs from that group, the average Conti member earns $1,800 a month. At the current exchange rate we are talking about €1,640.
Conti is a group of cybercriminals that many believe to be of Russian origin. It has been present in hundreds of attacks worldwide, especially against organizations. What it basically does is infiltrate a network, steal data, encrypt computers, and then demand a ransom in exchange for not publishing that information or allowing them to open the documents again.
Think of a company that is suddenly without access to all systems. They can see committed orders, sales to customers, essential documents for the manufacture of a product or that this data even ends up in the competition. That is why many organizations have no choice but to pay this ransom in order to continue operating normally.
Thousands of messages between hundreds of people
Secureworks has had access to more than 160,000 messages exchanged between almost 500 workers during the last two years. Keep in mind that Conti asks for ransoms that even exceed $750,000. We are talking about big attacks that target important organizations.
The average how much a hacker earns at Conti is the $1,800 we mentioned. Now, there are those who will charge much more within the structure of that criminal group. You can see, in return, how much a computer security expert charges.
As an important tidbit, recently an anonymous security researcher leaked the source code of the Conti ransomware. The package is currently uploaded to VirusTotal, so this is a very important step in protecting everyone’s safety and preventing more people from being affected by this threat.
It is important to know when a ransomware attack is most common. This will help keep you safe and prevent you from making mistakes that could help hackers sneak in malicious software and eventually encrypt all your files. As you have seen, it is a very profitable type of attack for cybercriminals.
