Extortion
How receding Ransomware payments are reshaping the Economics of Cyber Extortion
Ransomware operators have long relied on a simple business model: infiltrate an organization’s network, encrypt valuable data, and demand a ransom in exchange for restoring access. For years, this approach proved highly profitable, encouraging cybercriminals to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks against businesses, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and government agencies. However, recent trends suggest that the […]
Ransomware in 2026: EDR Killers, Post-Quantum Crypto, and Encryption-Less Extortion
When the security team at a mid-market manufacturer noticed the endpoint agent on a domain controller had stopped reporting telemetry, the host was already in the third hour of an attack. By the time someone walked over, the EDR process was gone. A kernel driver the attacker had loaded through a legitimate, signed binary had […]
Two hacking groups involved in data theft and extortion via SaaS Cloud Platforms
Two cyber-criminal collectives have recently emerged as notable actors in the evolving landscape of cloud-centric attacks, leveraging Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms to conduct sophisticated data theft and extortion operations. SaaS, a cloud computing model that enables users to access applications via web browsers or lightweight client interfaces, has become integral to modern enterprise infrastructure. By abstracting […]
Ways to make exfiltrated data useless in double extortion attacks
Double‑extortion ransomware — where attackers both encrypt systems and steal (exfiltrate) sensitive data to threaten public release — raises the stakes for defenders. Even with the best prevention, some data may still be taken. The goal then becomes simple and measurable: render stolen data worthless to attackers so they can’t extort you, sell usable assets, […]
Why Are Ransomware Gangs Shifting to Extortion Over Encryption?
Ransomware attacks have evolved significantly over the years, with cybercriminals constantly refining their methods to extract the maximum financial gain from their victims. Traditionally, ransomware gangs would encrypt a victim’s files and demand a ransom in exchange for the decryption key. However, in recent times, there has been a noticeable shift: many ransomware groups are […]
