Readers of this site (as well as our book, “Ransomware: Understand. Prevent. Recover”) will know that ransomware-as-a-service is becoming a popular way for cybercriminals to make money. Now that service model is being applied to zero-day exploits, leading to the rise of “exploit-as-a-service.” The idea behind exploit-as-a-service (EaaS) is that when criminals discover a zero-day […]
“Our message to ransomware criminals is clear: If you target victims here, we will target you,” reads the warning from Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco. It’s no idle threat, either—it was attached to a press release detailing the arrest of two people allegedly involved in several Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware attacks. Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 22, […]
Oh BlackMatter, we hardly knew ye. The criminal ransomware gang that first appeared in July 2021 has apparently ceased operations as of November 2021. In that short lifespan, however, it still managed to wreak significant havoc with its attacks. Vx-underground, which tracks ransomware, Tweeted out part of an alleged statement from BlackMatter. The original message […]
In business, when one profit stream slows down and starts to dry up, other revenue streams have to be found. This is true even of ransomware, which is big business these days. That may be why the notorious group Conti is branching out into a potentially new area—selling data from victims to the highest bidder. […]
The criminal gang responsible for the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in May 2021 got a taste of its own medicine recently, when it was hacked and taken offline. Reuters reports that the cybercriminal organization “REvil,” based out of Russia, was targeted by a “multi-country operation,” and the group’s website was shut down. According to the […]
Data stewardship is a component of data governance. If you think of governance as a strategic and formal process, you can think of stewardship as a tactical and social construct in support of governance. Practicing good data stewardship prepares an organization to recover efficiently from a ransomware attack. Stewardship embeds standards and best practices into […]
