Cerber ransomware earns $2.3mil with 0.3% response rate

The fast-growing Cerber ransomware earned nearly $200,000 in July despite a payment rate of just 0.3 percent as a result of its affiliate distribution model, according to a new report by Check Point and IntSights Cyber Intelligence.That puts it on track to make $2.3 million this year, said Maya Horowitz, group manager of threat intelligence at Israel-based Check Point Software Technologies Ltd..

In the affiliate model, non-technical customers can run their own campaigns using the platform and get to keep 60 percent of the profits. Affiliates get access to easy-to-use management tools, Cerber’s Bitcoin laundering system, as well as the ransomware itself. Each day, eight new Cerber ransomware campaigns are launched, she said, with over 150 affiliates at current count.

Read full article at CSO magazine.