Furthermore, the activity of ransomware gangs in Russian Dark Web hacking forums, here the ad ertise their aãfliates programs, also indicates this direction. Ransom are aãfliates programs usuall orks as follo s: the ransom are de elopers pro ide the aãfliates ith the mal are, and the aãfliates are responsible for distributing and infecting the ictims ith the ransom are. Then, the aãfliates recei e a share of the proåfts for e er ictim that pa s the ransom 14 . For e ample, since March 2020, the NetWalker ransom are gang (the åffth most acti e ransomware strain by the number of victims, according to our analysis) has been ad ertising its aãfliates program on Russian Dark Web hacking forums. In their ads, the speciåfcall note the are interested “onl in e perienced, Russian-speaking” aãfliates 15 . NetWalker appears to have followed the footsteps of the REvil gang (also known as Sodinokibi), ho has been ad ertising their aãfliates program on the Russian underground e en before NetWalker, since at least as earl as June 2019 16 (although the data e åfltration tactic as onl adopted b the group later). Another e ample is the Darkside ransom are gang, ho reportedl started ad ertising their o n aãfliates program on prominent Russian Dark Web hacking forums in No ember 2020 17 . 17. 16. 15. 14. https:// .bankinfosecurit .com/sodinokibi-ransom are-gang-appears-to-be-making-killing-a-13269 https://intel471.com/blog/re il-ransom are-as-a-ser ice-an-anal sis-of-a-ransom are-aãfliate-operation/ https://threatpost.com/net alker-ransom are-gang-top-notch-aãfliates/155946/ https:// .bleepingcomputer.com/ne s/securit /do ens-of-ransom are-gangs-partner- ith-hackers-to-e tort- ictims/ Screenshot of an advertisement of the NetWalker ransomware gang on Russian Dark Web forum Screenshot of an advertisement of the REvil ransomware gang on Russian Dark Web forum 14 | The Ransomware Landscape