Financial institutions processed nearly $1.2 billion of suspected ransomware payments last year.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said there were 1,489 ransomware attacks in 2021, based on data from Bank Secrecy Act filings. Financial institutions reported $416 million of damages a year earlier.
FinCEN determined that “a substantial number of ransomware attacks appear to be connected to actors in Russia.”
Ransomware remains “a serious threat to our national and economic security,” FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das said in a press release.
“It also underscores the importance of BSA filings, which allow us to uncover trends and patterns in support of whole-of-government efforts to prevent and combat ransomware attacks,” Das added. “Financial institutions play a critical role in helping to protect the United States from ransomware-related threats simply by fulfilling their BSA compliance obligations.”