Ransomware encrypts or steals data to disrupt operations and extort victims, making backups, access controls, and incident response essential.
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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.
Clay County, Indiana, said a ransomware attack has prevented the administration of critical services, leading to a disaster declaration being filed
Symantec figures suggest a 9% annual increase claimed ransomware attacks
A Cisco report highlighted TTPs used by the most prominent ransomware groups to evade detection, establish persistence and exfiltrate sensitive data
Group-IB also revealed the ransomware uses Chacha20 and RSA-OAEP for encryption
Researchers at Avast found a flaw in the cryptographic schema of the DoNex ransomware and have been sending out decryptor keys to victims since March 2024