Sounds like an oxymoron, but is Wannacrypt the most unsuccessful successful cyber attack ever??
Most Successful Attack
Let's face it, the damage Wannacrypt has done is astronomical, with over 200,000 infections - including computers in hospitals, banks, universities and even car production factories. Takes makes it one of the most successful attacks in history in terms of damage and grief caused. Students have their dissitations locked up, hospitals are missing patient records and more.
Most unsuccessful attack
Let's take a look at the facts:
- Estimated to have more than 200,000 infections
- less than 80k in actual ransom payments
- $0.31 dollar gained per infection
This is actually quite a small amount! Considering the average cost per install for apps is around $1-2 dollars.
Track ransom payments on the Blockchain
Whilst its not possible to track who is behind the attacks, its possible to trace ransom payments via the blockchain. Follow it here:
https://www.elliptic.co/wannacry/
This is a great point and should be stressed when people freak out of how damaging Bitcoin (and eventually Altcoins) are when they can be used in conjunction with attack. A lot of the time the theft is relatively negligible, and would have been stolen in aid by some other currency if Bitcoin or Altcoins hadn't existed.