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.
Won't stop the chaos, may lead to attacks with more dire consequences Opinion A general ban on ransomware payments, as was floated by some this week, sounds like a good idea. Eliminate extortion as a source of criminal income, and the attacks are undoubtedly going to drop. …
Remember the good old days when ransomware crooks vowed not to infect medical centers? Extortionists are now threatening to swat hospital patients — calling in bomb threats or other bogus reports to the police so heavily armed cops show up at victims' homes — if the medical centers don't pay the crooks' ransom demands.…
Headline-grabbing takedowns are nice, but long-term solutions require short-term sacrifices Comment In some ways, the ransomware landscape in 2023 remained unchanged from the way it looked in previous years. Vendor reports continue to show a rise in attacks, major organizations are still getting hit, and the inherent issues that enable it as a business model remain unaddressed.…
Company’s removal from ransomware gang’s leak blog could mean negotiations underway Xerox has officially confirmed that a cyber baddie broke into the systems of its US subsidiary - a week after INC Ransom claimed to have exfiltrated data from the copier and print giant.…
With the average demand hitting $1.5 million, something's gotta change Emsisoft has called for a complete ban on ransom payments following another record-breaking year of digital extortion.…
From legal proceedings to potential YouTube fodder The court system of Victoria, Australia, was subject to a suspected ransomware attack in which audiovisual recordings of court hearings may have been accessed.…