eBooks/eGuides

Ransomware Defense for Dummies eBook

Issue link: https://insights.oneneck.com/i/1093615

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 45 of 52

40 Ransomware Defense For Dummies, Cisco Special Edition These materials are © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. half as many malware variants were discovered as the number dis- covered during all of 2015, and nearly twice as many as during all of 2014. Several factors have contributed to the rapid growth and evolu- tion of ransomware, including the ubiquity of Android phones (which have become a popular attack vector), the rise of Bitcoin (enabling easy and virtually untraceable payments to cybercrimi- nals), and the emergence of Ransomware-as-a Service (RaaS; see the next section), which makes it easy for practically anyone to use ransomware. Ransomware-as-a-Service Is an Emerging Threat RaaS has emerged as a new threat that literally makes it as easy as "one, two, three" for practically anyone with limited technical skills to become a cybercriminal. For example, Tox — one of the earliest known RaaS offerings, discovered in May 2015 — can be downloaded from the dark web using a Tor browser and then set up as follows: 1. Enter a ransom amount. 2. Create a ransom note. 3. Type a CAPTCHA so that the creators of Tox know you're not a bot. RaaS software is typically available to download for free or for a small fee. The real profit for the creators of RaaS software is in the cut they take of the ransom payments that are collected — typically from 5 percent to 30 percent. Paying a Ransom Doesn't Solve Your Security Problems For most victims of ransomware, the quickest and easiest way to deal with the problem is simply to pay the ransom. However, paying the ransom — although you may get access to your files — doesn't solve your problems.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of eBooks/eGuides - Ransomware Defense for Dummies eBook