{"id":45850,"date":"2022-03-23T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1432c45f-3903-4f61-a6c2-a5a704372f71"},"modified":"2022-03-23T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:00:00","slug":"this-is-how-much-the-average-conti-hacking-group-member-earns-a-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/this-is-how-much-the-average-conti-hacking-group-member-earns-a-month\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how much the average Conti hacking group member earns a month"},"content":{"rendered":"

The average Conti ransomware group member earns a salary of $1,800 per month, a figure you might consider low considering the success of the criminal gang. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Secureworks published a set of findings<\/a> based on the group’s internal chat logs, leaked earlier this month and poured over by cybersecurity researchers ever since. <\/p>\n

The internal messaging records were leaked online after Conti, tracked as Gold Ulrick by Secureworks, declared its public support<\/a> for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an ongoing conflict.   <\/p>\n

Conti is a prolific ransomware group suspected to be of Russian origin that has claimed hundreds of victim organizations worldwide. The group will infiltrate a network — whether independently or through the purchase of initial access<\/a> through underground forums — steal data, encrypt networks, and will then demand a ransom. Victims who refuse to pay up may find their information leaked online.  <\/p>\n

Conti’s average ransomware demand is roughly $750,000<\/a>, but depending on the size and annual revenue of a victim, blackmail payments can be set far higher, sometimes reaching millions of dollars.  <\/p>\n

Check Point researchers have previously scoured the Conti chat logs and exposed a rather “mundane” operation, the type you’d expect a typical software development business<\/a> to run. <\/p>\n

This included a business infrastructure offering office, hybrid, or remote work options, performance reviews, bonuses, and a hiring process for coders, testers, system administrators, and HR.  <\/p>\n

While new members are interviewed, not everyone is told they are applying to work with a criminal outfit, as some ’employee’ messages have revealed. However, they may be offered salaries far higher than the local average to stay when the truth comes out.  <\/p>\n

According to Secureworks’ analysis of the logs, containing 160,000 messages exchanged between almost 500 individuals between January 2020 and March 2022, there were 81 people involved in payroll, with an average salary of $1,800 per month.  <\/p>\n

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