The ransomware scourge reached unprecedented levels in 2021, with ransomware threat actors demanding, and in many cases receiving, ransom payments in the millions of dollars. The world’s largest meat processor, JBS, confirmed in June 2021 that it paid the equivalent of $11 million in ransom to respond to the criminal hack against its operations.
Colonial Pipeline paid $4.43 million to its ransomware attackers in May 2021, although in a subsequent operation, the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) seized $2.3 million of that amount. In May, backup appliance supplier ExaGrid paid a $2.6 million ransom to cybercriminals that targeted the company with Conti ransomware.
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