How Do Cybercriminals Makes Money?
Cybercriminals are making lots of money from the damage they've been doing to your network. The money a ransomware operation travels all over the dark web. Major cybercrime gangs that claim responsibility for most ransomware attacks aren’t the only players that get paid generously. Ransomware money also trickles down to a community of affiliates, specialists, and individuals that support the major gangs – and everyone has a good chance of walking away with a notable profit.
Typically, when an attack is successful, perpetrators use these websites to claim responsibility for the attack, display a sample of the stolen data and announce the ransom demand.
One of the biggest goals of any cybercriminal is to obtain credentials that allow them to penetrate systems, steal data, and deploy ransomware. The more powerful the credential, the deeper into an organization a cybercrime gang can slip, enabling them to do catastrophic damage. Sometimes, that credential can also empower cybercriminals to penetrate a business partner’s network, creating a devastating ripple effect.
Tips to help protect yourself from cyberattacks:
Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
This is the single most powerful tool in a company’s arsenal to keep unwanted visitors out of their systems and data, stopping 99% of password-based cybercrime cold.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Create a stronger defense by lowering the number of access points to the heart of businesses. Giving every user their own personalized launch pad to access business applications not only enables techs to easily add and remove permissions.
Automated Password Resets
Immediate, automated password resets make it easy for employees to quickly change a password themselves whether they believe that it’s been compromised or if they’ve just forgotten it.
Secure Shared Password Vaults
Store especially powerful passwords, like privileged credentials and essential hardware passwords, in a secure vault that every tech can access, reducing the time it takes to track down a much-needed password to adjust permissions or perform defensive actions in case of trouble.
Ransomware devastates the companies that fall prey to it. Thriving dark web data markets and a wide array of eager freelancers make running a ransomware operation both easy and profitable, ensuring that it won’t go out of fashion anytime soon. The sad truth is that piloting a successful ransomware attack is all too easy for cybercriminals in a world where many businesses haven’t taken action to reduce their attack surface.
Paul Jackson, CEO, and Cybersecurity Specialist can help reduce the risk of a disastrous encounter with ransomware through the strength of our digital risk protection platform. Contact one of our solutions experts and let’s start putting affordable, effective cybersecurity protection in place to stop threats, like ransomware, in their tracks.