The attackers surely didn't get as rich as they were hoping

May 22, 2017 19:33 GMT  ·  By

WannaCry has spread all over the world, infecting some 300,000 devices and asking for $300 in turn for the decryption key. Despite the impact this ransomware has had on the world, only a few people have chosen to pay thus far. 

WannaCry, like many other ransomware, demanded the victims to pay $300 in Bitcoin in exchange for the decryption key, but that sum has now turned to $600 for those who missed the deadline. Those who left the infection up for a week are being threatened with losing their files forever unless they pay.

Not the biggest payday

That doesn't seem to matter too much as victims chose to ignore it. Under 300 payments were made thus far, with 48.86 Bitcoins racking up on the three Bitcoin wallets attached to the ransomware, ZDNet reports. Given today's levels for the digital currency, that's close to $107,000. Regardless, it still means that under 0.1% of victims decided to pay to get their files decrypted, which is extremely low.

For example, the likes to Locky and Cerber, two successful ransomware families, have brought cybercriminals about $1 billion in fees over the past year. By comparison, WannaCry has barely scratched the surface, especially taking into consideration the number of victims.

On the other hand, security researchers have already come up with a couple decryption tools to help folks out, although their use is somewhat limited. WannaKey works for Windows XP users, while WanaKiwi works for all Windows versions up until 7, but there's a higher chance for it to be successful if the computer has not yet been rebooted. It's also important to note that most of those who were infected by WannaCry were actually operating Windows 7.

In the meantime, security researchers and law enforcement are working to figure out who really is behind the attack and how they can bring them to justice.