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If you’ve been keeping up with any of the cybersecurity headlines recently, you will have noticed a disturbing trend. Gone are the days when these attacks were mainly focused on stealing credit card details, social security information, and displaying those annoying pop-up ads. They’ve evolved into major existential threats for businesses of all sizes around the world.
We are seeing attacks that don’t just cause a minor blip in productivity for a business, but instead pause their operations for a day or two. We are seeing attacks that have the power to wipe entire organizations off the face of the map.
There is a lingering misconception that ransomware attacks are targeted explicitly at massive tech companies, enterprises, or faceless government agencies. Hackers are more indiscriminate than that. Businesses that have survived recessions, global wars, and pandemics are crumbling under the pressure of digital extortion, and they need to learn how to protect themselves quickly.
In this post, we will break down what exactly ransomware is, the mechanics behind modern attacks, why they spread so fast, and just how ruthless they can be when they catch a company off guard.
Before we dive any deeper into some of the horror stories and cautionary tales, let’s quickly get some definitions out of the way.
Ransomware is best described as malicious software (malware) that disrupts operations and denies a business access to its systems until a sum of money is paid. This would be the ransom.
While the dictionary definition can feel a little abstract or even clinical, let’s walk through an imaginary scenario of what a real ransomware attack would look like. Imagine you walked into your office tomorrow morning. You’ve got your meetings all lined up, and you’re ready to get started.
You wake up your computer, wiggle your mouse, and the screen comes to life, but the usual desktop wallpaper is gone. Instead, what you see is a black screen with menacing red text explaining that every single file on your system, every database, and every customer record has been encrypted, and you can no longer access them. Panic stations.
Usually, encryption is a tool used by the “good guys” for cybersecurity. But with ransomware, they flip that notion and encrypt all your data, knowing they are the only ones who have the key to unlock it.
Next up, the hackers demand a ransom. This is usually in the form of a cryptocurrency payment, such as Bitcoin, but it is more likely to be a harder-to-trace coin like Monero or Zcash. The promise is that once you pay the ransom, they’ll decrypt your systems and you can go back on your merry way as if nothing ever happened.
Most gangs now also use a nefarious tactic known as double extortion, in which they lock your files, copy all your files, and threaten to leak them to the public. So even if you prepared for a ransomware attack by having solid backups in place, they have a second set of leverage against you in the form of a widespread data leak. They could threaten to expose private customer data, legal documents, or trade secrets. It all depends on what type of data they got their hands on.
In many ways, this becomes a digital hostage situation, and it’s tough to navigate as the gun is pointed squarely at the organisation's reputation and survival.
If a threat is so well-known by this point, how is it still causing so much damage at a massive scale? The problem lies in the speed at which malware is distributed once a network has been compromised, as well as in the architecture of modern networks.
Ransomware spreads by following the path of least resistance, and the problem with much of modern digital infrastructure is that it’s full of unlocked doors.
What does it take for a ransomware attack to begin? While pop culture paints a picture of a hooded character in a dark room furiously typing away at a keyboard, trying to bypass firewalls, the reality is a bit more mundane (and a lot more frustrating for security teams).
Most of the time, hackers don’t need a battering ram to try and burst through the heavily guarded front door. They just get the spare key that’s been left under the mat. In real terms, this spare key could be something as simple as a weak or compromised password. And if your business employs hundreds or thousands of people who each use dozens of applications, that’s a lot of potential cracks in armor that could be exploited.
If an attacker guesses a weak password correctly or buys a list of valid logins from the dark web, they simply log in to your network like a legitimate user. Once they’re in, most network security defenses no longer treat them as outsiders, and they are given free rein to move laterally between systems, spreading the malware until it reaches a critical mass.
Once attackers have their foot in the door, they take their time to infect systems as stealthily as possible. They do this by using a technique called “living off the land."
Instead of uploading obvious malicious viruses that antivirus software might spot, they use the tools already built into the Windows operating system. They might use PowerShell (a task automation framework) to run scripts that disable security alerts or scan the network for other computers.
And because they are using legitimate admin tools, they blend into regular network traffic without any suspicion. Using this method, it could take a security team hours, days, or, in some cases, months to notice the anomaly. This allows the ransomware to do its damage and propagate through systems and data, escalating its privileges until the hackers reach a point where they can lock down the whole organization.
So you’ve heard of SaaS (software-as-a-service). Now imagine that business model, but this time it’s built for cybercrime. It sounds almost too brazen for it to be a real thing, but this is precisely what ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) is.
In the past, if you wanted to pull off a ransomware attack, you needed serious technical chops and hacking skills even to get close to making it a success. That’s why these attacks were few and far between. But today, anyone can go online and purchase a ready-made ransomware kit.
Criminal groups package their tools together the same way a modern software company would package its apps, and then they sell them on a subscription basis. These services usually come complete with customer service, technical guidance, onboarding guides, profit-sharing models, and even dashboards that track infections across victims.
This may sound crazy, but it’s a real “industry,” and it’s happening every day.
The outcome is that anyone with bad intentions, whether a disgruntled ex-employee, someone seeking a bit of cash, or someone who just wants to watch the world burn, can launch ransomware attacks at scale. They don’t need to understand how the malware works since it has already been developed.
This is one of the biggest reasons attacks have exploded. Cybercrime has become franchised. And with more criminals comes a dramatic rise in aggression.
If you think ransomware gangs stop at locking files, think again. Their business model depends on fear, pressure, and humiliation. They want victims to panic. They want decision-makers to feel backed into a corner.
A recent BBC story showed just how vicious things can get. A ransomware group didn’t just steal data, they directly targeted staff. They sent messages threatening to leak personal information and medical records, using employees as emotional leverage to force the business to pay up. This wasn’t some one-off “bad apple.” This is becoming standard behaviour.
Criminals now routinely:
There is no real sense of shame, and no line that they refuse to cross. These criminals don’t just want the money, they want complete control and compliance, and they’ll squeeze their victims anyway they can until they get it.
Every year, these attacks get faster, more aggressive, and more damaging. Criminal groups are collaborating and honing their skills, sharing “best practices” and slowly refining strategies. And with the financial incentives being so high, there is no shortage of bad actors wanting to jump in and get their own piece of the pie.
For businesses, the first step towards protection is understanding how ransomware really works, and hopefully this blog has started you along that pathway. For how brutal ransomware can be, it is preventable with good cybersecurity practices and regular employee training.
Remember, your defenses are only as strong as your weakest link, so make sure that everyone in your organization understands the risks of ransomware and their responsibilities when interacting online.
