Ransomed: A Cyber Threat In The Making

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 





About Ransomed

Ransomed is an emerging ransomware syndicate in the cyber world. Similar to the other ransomwares, this threat group also issues threats of exposing the stolen data of their victims unless a ransom is paid. However, their similarities with the others simply stops here. They make use the data protection laws against their victims for financial gains. They threaten their victims with fines if they do not pay the ransom. They tacitly set the ransom amounts lower than the fine for a data security violation, allowing them to exploit this discrepancy to increase the chance of payment.

Unverified Claims

Ransomed uses a special ransom variant or extorts victims only via leaked information is yet to be cleared. There is no known evidence as how this group conducts their attack. They might be related to the other data leak forums and websites like BreachForums and Exposed.

Prevention

General methods to combat a ransomware attack are as follows-
  • Mandatory strong password policies and multi-factor authentication for all critical services.
  • Use updated or modern Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools.
  • Employ advanced endpoint security products on all endpoints.
  • Regularly update all the software and operating systems. 
  • Have the least privilege approach to security, including the removal of all the unnecessary access to administrative shares and other services.
  • Administer a solid backup strategy including offline, encrypted, and immutable backup of data.

Conclusion

Since, this enigmatic ransomware is new to the cyber community, not much information is known to the public. But, one thing is for sure, the world of ransomwares continues to evolve making it challenging for the defenders to adapt and innovate. 



























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