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.
Why Cybersecurity Is a Public ImperativeData is one of the most valuable assets in today's digital age. Cyberthreats come in many forms, such as phishing attacks, ransomware, data breaches and malware infections, and failing to protect your data can cause severe financial, reputational and operational damage.
Hacktivists Are Likely to Increasingly Adopt Cybercrime Tactics, Report SaysRansomware hacks and self-declared hacktivist denial-of-services attacks were the most prolific threat to European Union members over the 12-month period ending in June, the EU cyber agency warned, adding that the nexus between nation-state hackers and hacktivist groups poses an emerging threat.
CyberEdBoard Members and ISMG Editors on Incident Response, AI and Defense TrendsThis week, CyberEdBoard members Jon Staniforth and Helmut Spöcker joined ISMG editors to unpack the hot topics at ISMG's London Cybersecurity Summit 2024, including ransomware lessons learned, AI trends and the growing importance of continuous learning and resilience in the cybersecurity industry.
Trend Micro tracked this group as Water Bakunawa, behind the RansomHub ransomware, employs various anti-EDR techniques to play a high-stakes game of hide and seek with security solutions.
Boasts 'appear to be credible' experts tell El Reg A California city, a Spanish fashion giant, an Indian paper manufacturer, and two pharmaceutical companies are the alleged victims of what looks like a new ransomware gang that started leaking stolen info this week.…
Inc ransomware — one of the most popular among cybercriminals today — meets healthcare, the industry sector most targeted by RaaS.
Until just a couple of years ago, only a handful of IAM pros knew what service accounts are. In the last years, these silent Non-Human-Identities (NHI) accounts have become one of the most targeted and compromised attack surfaces. Assessments report that compromised service accounts play a key role in lateral movement in over 70% of ransomware attacks. However, there’s an alarming disproportion
Infostealer malware and digital identity exposure behind rise in ransomware, researchers find
German law enforcement seized 47 cryptocurrency exchange services hosted in the country that facilitated illegal money laundering activities for cybercriminals, including ransomware gangs. [...]
Cybersecurity in healthcare has never been more urgent. As the most vulnerable industry and largest target for cybercriminals, healthcare is facing an increasing wave of cyberattacks. When a hospital's systems are held hostage by ransomware, it’s not just data at risk — it’s the care of patients who depend on life-saving treatments. Imagine an attack that forces emergency care to halt, surgeries
Microsoft has revealed that a financially motivated threat actor has been observed using a ransomware strain called INC for the first time to target the healthcare sector in the U.S
Plus: Wray tells how bureau helps certain victims negotiate with ransomware crooks China-backed spies are said to have tore down their own 260,000-device botnet after the FBI and its international pals went after them.…
Add 'ransomware' to the list of certainties in life? Notorious ransomware gang LockBit claims once again to have compromised eFile.com, which offers online services for electronically filing tax returns with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).…
Add 'ransomware' to the list of certainties in life? Notorious ransomware gang LockBit claims to have compromised eFile.com, which offers online services for electronically filing tax returns with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).…
Microsoft says a ransomware affiliate it tracks as Vanilla Tempest now targets U.S. healthcare organizations in INC ransomware attacks. [...]
Microsoft says a ransomware affiliate it tracks as Vanilla Tempest now targets U.S. healthcare organizations in INC ransomware attacks. [...]
Can cyber defenders use the presence of infostealers as a canary in the coal mine to preempt ransomware attacks?
Former Royal Mail and Manchester University CISOs Talk Ransomware ResponseTimely notification of ransomware incidents to British law enforcement agencies played a crucial role in understanding the threats and in developing mitigation strategies, the former security heads of Royal Mail and the University of Manchester said.
Auction acts as payback after authority publicly refuses to pay up The trend of ransomware crews claiming to sell stolen data privately instead of leaking it online continues with Rhysida marketing the data allegedly belonging to Port of Seattle for 100 Bitcoin (around $5.9 million).…
Ransomware gangs like BianLian and Rhysida increasingly use Microsoft's Azure Storage Explorer and AzCopy to steal data from breached networks and store it in Azure Blob storage. [...]