Sanctions imposed on Russia by the international community are having an unforeseen side effect: ransomware has taken a hit.

Ransomware has become one of the biggest cybersecurity threats, impacting organizations of all sizes. Government agencies and educational institutions have been hit hard as well, with Lincoln College recently closing its doors in large part because of a ransomware attack.

It’s no secret that Russia is the home base of many ransomware gangs, with the Russian government turning a blind eye to their activities. According to ZDNet, the sanctions Russia is under are making it difficult for ransomware gangs to carry out their operations and receive payment.

“One interesting trend we see is, in the last month or two ransomware is actually down. There’s probably a lot of different reasons why that is, but I think one impact is the fallout of Russia-Ukraine,” said NSA director of cybersecurity Rob Joyce.

“As we do sanctions and it’s harder to move money and it’s harder to buy infrastructure on the web, we’re seeing them less effective – and ransomware is a big part of that,” he added.