Are You Ransomware Aware?

The most common threat in the cybersecurity world often sounds like a plot from a blockbuster movie.

The clock is ticking…

You have only a few hours…

Can you solve the mystery before you have to pay the ransom?

According to Secureworks’ Director of Intelligence, Mike McLellan, year after year, threat actors around the world keep going back to malware tools which hold data hostage. Ransomware is a tried-and-true tactic that has been around for more than 30 years—a technique that is older than some security professionals themselves!

But in recent ransomware has evolved and grown. It is unrecognizable from the early amateur efforts to extort money from victims. And even more recently than that, criminals have refined their techniques. In the most recent episode of The Cybersecurity Advantage Podcast, Mike explains that the model of ransomware we saw three to-five years ago of mass distribution via phishing and compromised websites has been replaced by a much more aggressive and damaging approach, where criminals get access and then use a hands-on-keyboard process in the back end to set up deployments to cause maximum damage across a network

Today’s ransomware threat actor has upped their game—criminals are now using techniques once used by state-backed entities. But despite the evolution of the threat, one thing remains the same: it is important for security professionals to remember that humans are at the other end, and with the right preparation and agility, organizations can prevent or deter these criminals from being successful.

According to Mike, one of the biggest challenges in proactively dealing with ransomware is that CISOs understand the concept, but they face a barrier regarding investment in tools and services to stay ahead of the threat.