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 ransomware landscape is reconsolidating around major players, with Qilin emerging as the leading RaaS operation, researchers say
Researchers warn that collaboration could lead to “unprecedented” ransomware attacks, as FBI also issues warning
Bitdefender researchers warned of curious ransomware campaign which has targeted businesses around the world
Report Fraud data reveals that more than half of 323 UK ransomware victims last year were SMEs
Experts warn the Jaguar Land Rover breach bears hallmarks of Kremlin-backed hackers, citing novel ransomware, strategic timing and efforts to obscure attribution