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.
Authorities in Europe and North America have announced the dismantling of a criminal virtual private network (VPN) service used by criminal actors to obscure the origins of ransomware attacks, data theft, scanning, and denial-of-service attacks
Ransomware and vendor breaches persist. The "2026 Data Breach Investigations Report" (DBIR) highlights how evolving social engineering tactics make the sector more vulnerable.
First VPN, a service used by ransomware actors and fraudsters, was dismantled by Europol
A virtual private network service called 'First VPN,' used in ransomware and data theft attacks, has been taken offline in a joint international law enforcement operation. [...]
Recent Hacks Underscore Persistent and Growing Threats to Smaller OrganizationsSmall and mid-sized healthcare organizations - including medical specialty practices and regional clinics - continue to fall victim disproportionately to hacking incidents, including ransomware attacks and data thefts - affecting large populations of patients. Why does this keep happening?
Threat actors brute-forced VPN credentials and bypassed multi-factor authentication (MFA) on SonicWall Gen6 SSL-VPN appliances to deploy tools used in ransomware attacks. [...]
Microsoft on Tuesday said it disrupted a malware-signing-as-a-service (MSaaS) operation that weaponized the company's Artifact Signing system to deliver malicious code and conduct ransomware and other attacks, compromising thousands of machines and networks across the world
'Thousands' of US victims, including 12+ machines owned and operated by Redmond
Microsoft says it has disrupted a malware-signing-as-a-service (MSaaS) operation that abused the company's Artifact Signing service to generate fraudulent code-signing certificates used by ransomware gangs and other cybercriminals. [...]
Fox Tempest is a financially motivated threat actor operating a malware‑signing‑as‑a‑service (MSaaS) used by other cybercriminals, including Vanilla Tempest and Storm groups, to more effectively distribute malicious code, including ransomware. The post Exposing Fox Tempest: A malware-signing service operation appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.
Fox Tempest, a financially-motivated threat group, allowed ransomware operators and other cybercriminals to slip malware-laced software past security controls. The post Microsoft disrupts cybercrime service that abused software verification systems en masse appeared first on CyberScoop.
Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit has taken down the infrastructure of Fox Tempest, a prolific cybercrime-enabling threat group
Patch Rollout Slows and Ransomware Incident Volume Rises, Finds Latest Verizon DBIRThe frequency of hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware and software to gain initial access to a victim's environment continues to surge, and half of all successful breaches also now involve some type of "ransomware action," according Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report.