What is Extortionware? How is It Different From Ransomware?

Let's look at how extortionware works, how it compares to ransomware and why the threat of extortionware is likely to continue growing in years to come.
Once access is gained, the victim's data is stolen and analyzed to identify information that can be used against them.
Ransomware is malware that locks and encrypts a victim's digital resources, ranging from select data to the entire computer system, making it inaccessible until a ransom payment is made to the attacker.
Ransomware is usually distributed through an infected attachment or malicious link.
Once ransomware has infected a user's system, cybercriminals search for files containing sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, financial data and health records.
Extortionware might sound a bit like ransomware, and it is.
Both ransomware and extortionware access and exfiltrate company data, usually with the intent of making money off the company from which it was stolen.
Unlike ransomware, which forces the business to either pay up or lose access to the stolen data, extortionists threaten to publicly release the collected information.
Double extortion ransomware, for example, is when a malicious actor encrypts or locks access to systems and also threatens to release data stolen during the attack.
Most of the risks associated with ransomware can be mitigated by frequent offline data backups.
With backups, businesses can easily restore their encrypted data.
Offline backups prove worthless when cybercriminals threaten to release data, rather than delete it.
This distinction makes extortionware a greater risk to businesses than ransomware.
Despite the risk, ransomware remains far more common than extortionware.
The reason is simple: Hackers can automate the ransomware process, casting a wide victim net, while extortionware calls for a more time-consuming, targeted approach.
Ransomware remains the preferred attack method of cybercriminals because many organizations still don't have proper offline backup procedures.
Once the lure and lucrativeness of ransomware dry up, expect a rapid shift to extortionware.
Ransomware prevention best practices also apply to preventing extortionware.
Victims of ransomware attacks can often avoid paying the ransom by restoring the encrypted files from offline data backups.
With extortionware, prevention is the only way to keep bad actors from obtaining data and the only way an organization can remain unharmed.


This Cyber News was published on www.techtarget.com. Publication date: Thu, 30 May 2024 21:13:05 +0000


Cyber News related to What is Extortionware? How is It Different From Ransomware?

What is Extortionware? How is It Different From Ransomware? - Let's look at how extortionware works, how it compares to ransomware and why the threat of extortionware is likely to continue growing in years to come. Once access is gained, the victim's data is stolen and analyzed to identify information that can ...
5 months ago Techtarget.com
Hive Ransomware: A Detailed Analysis - This past week, on January 26th, to be exact, the FBI successfully shut down the Hive ransomware group and saved victims over a hundred million dollars in ransom payments and remediation costs. As ransomware continues to be a national security threat ...
1 year ago Heimdalsecurity.com
Medusa Ransomware Turning Your Files into Stone - Unit 42 Threat Intelligence analysts have noticed an escalation in Medusa ransomware activities and a shift in tactics toward extortion, characterized by the introduction in early 2023 of their dedicated leak site called the Medusa Blog. The Unit 42 ...
9 months ago Unit42.paloaltonetworks.com
Ransomware Roundup - The Ransomware Roundup report aims to provide readers with brief insights into the evolving ransomware landscape and the Fortinet solutions that protect against those variants. This edition of the Ransomware Roundup covers the 8base ransomware. 8base ...
10 months ago Feeds.fortinet.com
The Top 10 Ransomware Groups of 2023 - This article takes an in-depth look at the rise in ransomware attacks over the past year and the criminal groups driving the surge in cyber extortion. LockBit has established itself as one of the most notorious ransomware operations since emerging on ...
9 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Ransomware trends and recovery strategies companies should know - Ransomware attacks can have severe consequences, causing financial losses, reputational damage, and operational disruptions. The methods used to deliver ransomware vary, including phishing emails, malicious websites, and exploiting vulnerabilities in ...
10 months ago Helpnetsecurity.com
The Week in Ransomware - Earlier this month, the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware operation suffered a five-day disruption to their Tor data leak and negotiation sites, rumored to be caused by a law enforcement action. The FBI revealed this week that they hacked the BlackCat/ALPHV ...
10 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Ransomware in 2023 recap: 5 key takeaways - This provides the best overall picture of ransomware activity, but the true number of attacks is far higher. While some ransomware trends hardly changed over the last year, such as LockBit's continued dominance, ransomware criminals also challenged ...
8 months ago Malwarebytes.com
Declining Ransomware Payments: Shift in Hacker Tactics? - Several cybersecurity advisories and agencies recommend not caving into ransomware gangs' demands and paying their ransoms. It seems the tide is turning, with a decline in ransomware payments; this article explores the trend and what it might mean ...
8 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Ransomware Roundup - On a bi-weekly basis, FortiGuard Labs gathers data on ransomware variants of interest that have been gaining traction within our datasets and the OSINT community. The Ransomware Roundup report aims to provide readers with brief insights into the ...
7 months ago Feeds.fortinet.com
The Week in Ransomware - This week was pretty quiet on the ransomware front, with most of the attention on the seizure of the BreachForums data theft forum. That does not mean there was nothing of interest released this week about ransomware. A report by CISA said that the ...
5 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Key Group uses leaked builders of ransomware and wipers | Securelist - The first discovered sample of Key Group, the Xorist ransomware, established persistence in the system by changing file extension associations. The .huis_bn extension added to encrypted files in the early versions of Key Group samples, Xorist and ...
1 month ago Securelist.com
The Week in Ransomware - An international law enforcement operation claims to have dismantled a ransomware affiliate operation in Ukraine, which was responsible for attacks on organizations in 71 countries. The threat actors are said to be affiliates of numerous ransomware ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Ransomware Roundup - On a bi-weekly basis, FortiGuard Labs gathers data on ransomware variants of interest that have been gaining traction within our datasets and the OSINT community. The Ransomware Roundup report aims to provide readers with brief insights into the ...
9 months ago Feeds.fortinet.com
The Week in Ransomware - Governments struck back this week against members of ransomware operations, imposing sanctions on one threat actor and sentencing another to prison. On Tuesday, the Australian, US, and UK governments announced sanctions against Aleksandr Gennadievich ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Ransomware's Impact May Include Heart Attacks, Strokes & PTSD - First-order harms: Direct targets of ransomware attacks. The increasing convergence of IT and OT leave physical infrastructures more vulnerable to ransomware, even though most ransomware operators lack the capability to directly compromise OT or ...
9 months ago Techrepublic.com
Waiting for the BlackCat rebrand - We saw another ransomware operation shut down this week after first getting breached by law enforcement and then targeting critical infrastructure, putting them further in the spotlight of the US government. While the Tor onion domain seizure was a ...
7 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
VX-Underground malware collective framed by Phobos ransomware - A new Phobos ransomware variant frames the popular VX-Underground malware-sharing collective, indicating the group is behind attacks using the encryptor. Phobos launched in 2018 in what is believed to be a ransomware-as-a-service derived from the ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Dozens of countries will pledge to stop paying ransomware gangs - An alliance of 40 countries will sign a pledge during the third annual International Counter-Ransomware Initiative summit in Washington, D.C., to stop paying ransoms demanded by cybercriminal groups. Addressing reporters on Monday, Anne Neuberger, ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
How ransomware gangs are engaging - As ransomware gangs continue to market themselves as legitimate businesses complete with customer service representatives, new research from Sophos showed that threat actors are expanding public relations efforts to further pressure victims into ...
10 months ago Techtarget.com
The Week in Ransomware - Today's column brings you two weeks of information on the latest ransomware attacks and research after we skipped last week's article. BleepingComputer has learned that some of the BlackCat/ALPHV affiliates are not buying the explanation and have ...
10 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Best Ransomware Protection Practices for Midsize Organizations - Ransomware Protection has emerged as a crucial step in cybersecurity since ransomware attacks have become a major threat to businesses of all sizes, including midsize organizations. Ransomware attacks can be delivered via email attachments or links, ...
10 months ago Securityboulevard.com
The Evolving Landscape of Ransomware Attacks - 1.7 million ransomware attacks are happening every day. Many people think the virus has locked their computer, but it is actually the ransomware that has locked all their files. As the name ransomware suggests they are after ransom. Stealing or ...
10 months ago Cyberdefensemagazine.com
Top 10 Notorious Ransomware Gangs of 2023 - By employing a multitude of advanced techniques like double extortion along with other illicit tactics, ransomware groups are continually evolving at a rapid pace. Here below, we have mentioned all the types of ransomware used by the threat actors ...
10 months ago Cybersecuritynews.com
Targeting homeowners' data - As these companies obtain a large amount of sensitive information from their customers, they become attractive targets for ransomware gangs to conduct double-extortion attacks. Finland is also warning of Akira ransomware increasingly targeting ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)