Ransomware Reality Check

Ransomware- A reality check (Part 1)
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Ransomware has been the most significant threat for years which has been
affected over sectors and remained one of the top risks. The topics covered in the
webinar are detailed in this blog for reference.

 Ransomware- A reality check (Part 1)

What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is the type of malicious software or malware that
prevents you from accessing your files, networks, or systems. They
demand a ransom amount to get your access back.
In 1989, the first-ever ransomware attack happened through an aid
trojan that targeted the healthcare industry. It has been carried out
through a floppy disk delivered by the postal service as it was
symmetric encryption that blocks users from accessing their files.
However, the IT specialist had discovered the decryption key and
retrieved their access back without paying any ransom amount.

Adam Young and Moti Yung introduced the term Cryptovirology, and it is
a field of study on using cryptography to design robust and malicious
malware or softwares. They invented the concept of encrypting a file in
1996 at the IEEE security and privacy conference.
An anti-virus analyst could identify the public key that includes malware,
but an attacker can determine the corresponding private key. It is
because the attacker has created the key pair. This public key acts as a
one-way operation on the victim file, encrypting the file. The way to
decrypt the file is through the attacker’s corresponding private key.
These kinds of attacks can happen through your crypto virus or crypto
worm, or crypto trojan, and the preferred method among these is crypto
trojan.

Crypto-jacking
During a crypto-jacking attack, the victims’ computers are infected with
cryptocurrency mining malware. This malware infects the victim’s system, leverages
the victim’s computing power without knowledge, and mines the cryptocurrency. One
such incident was Crypto-jacking, which Palo Alto Networks discovered. Many variants
are evolving and are the types of extortion.
Triple Extortion Attack
Triple Extortion Attack is an extension of a double extortion attack, but the tactic used
might vary. When the attackers have encrypted your file, it remains inaccessible, and
they demand ransom extortion. The threat actor could threaten leaking data if not
paid the ransom, and they could threaten you with launching a DDoS attack.
The most used medium for this kind of attack is through emails or malvertising
advertisements from websites.
Ransomware is evolving, and cyber criminals having low technical capabilities can
perform Ransomware attacks. Now, this malware can be made available to buyers like
you and me to quote one such group as a quantity ransomware group, and they leaked
a playbook on how to launch these ransomware attacks, which is pretty scary.
https://youtu.be/uFxR7vgyLzE

Top emerging trends in Ransomware
The following are the top emerging trends in Ransomware:
1. Ransomware-as-a-service : It is a subscription that allows members to use the
ransomware tool. The beauty of this group is that they can also help you extend your
reach and make your attack more distributed in nature. The authorities would have a
hard time containing it. The creators of these tools have started asking for a cut
percentage on each successful ransom payment, and the average now is 33% that they
demand from any successful ransom payment.
2. Attacking the Susceptible-The focus is on weak industries: Attackers have taken
advantage of industries badly hit by pandemics, such as healthcare, educational
institutions, and government. One of the methods is the remote connection or remote
corporate connections. Now personal devices of high net worth individuals are also
being targeted by these attacks.
3. The exploitation of Managed Service Providers: If you attack one managed service
provider, remember it can open up doors to many of its clients. Hence, the target is
managed service providers also. A vulnerable spot is through the remote access tools
that are poorly secured or configured.

4. Newer and evolving strains: A huge increase in the number of variants and the
complexities are also evolving. So, the defense techniques, few companies have
also started using behavioral analysis using AI and ML to detect future events or
predictive analytics.
5. Targeting mobile devices: Mobile ransomware variants are also on the
increase. The attackers can lock your device, encrypt your files and steal the data,
and you have to pay a ransom to use your device again.
These are the major trends of Ransomware attacks that are being spreading over
the world. To protect and prevent these ransomware threats, consider advanced
protection technologies, Patch regularly, Maintain an in-depth security system,
Frequent backups, and proper guidance on Social engineering.

Key types and techniques used in Ransomware
There are many variants, but majorly they are categorized into four types.
1. Encrypting Ransomware: A typical encryption technique used to decrypt or
encrypt the ransom needs to be paid.
2. Screen Lockers: It restricts your login or file access, and it also disables your
essential computer functions, and it operates at an operating system level.
3. Scareware: It is to scare you that it could be malicious software created to make
a false claim about viruses infecting your files or computer devices, and payment is
demanded in return to fix the falsified issue. One of the general techniques is a
pop-up message that would keep coming up on your screen that your laptop has
affected, and you have to make a payment to get rid of it.
4. Doxware: Doxware or leak ware threatens that the group will distribute your
personal or sensitive data if the ransom is not paid. Some individuals can go to any
extent and give any amount to prevent their data from being leaked in public.

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