Pillsbury's Internet & Social Media Team

The actors behind ransomware tend to fall into two categories: cybercriminal gangs, often based in Eastern Europe, and groups backed by economic outcasts like Iran, Russia and North Korea. Historically the first prefer a shotgun approach; the second behave more like snipers. Here are a few of the groups that have been linked to recent ransomware and are still a threat.

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It may seem that the very term “ransomware” wasted little time going from “newish-sounding threat” to expected, constant presence in the news and IT meetings alike. But, of course, it’s ultimately just a modern word for one of the oldest crimes out there—holding someone or something hostage until someone else pays for its release. Nonetheless, as the targets and means of these attacks have evolved, keeping track of it all has become a bit more complicated than a name on a ransom note. The ransomware landscape is constantly shifting as actors change their targets, find new points of attack and think of fresh ways to leverage encrypted data. Hundreds of variants of ransomware have been documented over the past few years, but here’s a cross-section of types posing a threat right now.

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