“The Growing Menace of Extortion: How it’s Replacing Ransomware as the Top Cyber Threat”
Why extortion is the new ransomware threat Ransomware actors are increasingly rebuffing encryption-based attacks in favor of plain extortion.
While novel, this isn’t the only aggressive tactic used by ransomware and extortion gangs.
What’s the difference between ransomware and extortion?
The Ransomware Task Force describes ransomware as an “evolving form of cybercrime, through which criminals remotely compromise computer systems and demand a ransom in return for restoring and/or not exposing data.”In reality, ransomware attacks can fall on a spectrum of impact.
This was demonstrated in the recent ransomware attack against Caesars Entertainment, which paid off the hackers in a bid to prevent the disclosure of stolen data.
