Ransomware encrypts or steals data to disrupt operations and extort victims, making backups, access controls, and incident response essential.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
Ransomware is malware used to deny access to systems or data, usually by encrypting files and demanding payment for decryption. Many operations also steal sensitive information and threaten to publish it, so an attack can create both an availability crisis and a privacy or disclosure risk. Initial access may involve phishing, stolen credentials, exposed remote services, or exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities; attackers may then move through the network before deploying the payload.
Defenses should combine vulnerability management, phishing-resistant authentication where practical, endpoint and network monitoring, and backups that are isolated from routine administrator access and regularly tested for recovery. Organizations should also limit privileges and segment critical systems to reduce the blast radius. An incident requires rapid containment, preservation of forensic evidence, restoration from known-good backups, and assessment of notification, legal, and regulatory obligations. Threat intelligence can help identify relevant criminal infrastructure or tactics, but it does not replace sound access control, patching, detection, and recovery practices.
The UnitedHealth Group has confirmed that it paid a ransom to cybercriminals to protect sensitive data stolen during the Optum ransomware attack in late February. [...]
Synlab Italia has suspended all its medical diagnostic and testing services after a ransomware attack forced its IT systems to be taken offline. [...]
Ransomware actors have had a rough start this year, as stats from cybersecurity firm Coveware show that the trend of victims declining to pay the cybercriminals continues and has now reached a new record low of 28%. [...]