The first ransomware attack took place in 1989 and was made possible by the floppy disk. It wasn’t until cryptocurrencies and ‘untraceable’ payments came along in the 2010s, however, that its prevalence as an attack method exploded.
The growth of cryptocurrency is just one of several major trends that has influenced the ransomware landscape. Elsewhere for example, international relations has played a part. Attackers and victims quite rarely live in the same country, so dealing with the criminals requires cross-border law enforcement collaboration. The US and Russia began working together to address gangs based in Russia before the Ukraine war put an end to that cooperation.
