ransomware – Noise

From Extortion to E-commerce: How Ransomware Groups Turn Breaches into Bidding Wars

Alexandra Blia — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:21:37 +0000

Ransomware has evolved from simple digital extortion into a structured, profit-driven criminal enterprise. Over time, it has led to the development of a complex ecosystem where stolen data is not only leveraged for ransom, but also sold to the highest ...

The State of Security Today: Setting the Stage for 2026

Rapid7 — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:07:34 +0000

As we close out 2025, one thing is clear: the security landscape is evolving faster than most organizations can keep up. From surging ransomware campaigns and AI-enhanced phishing to data extortion, geopolitical fallout, and gaps in cyber readiness, th...

Threat Landscape of the Building and Construction Sector Part Two: Ransomware

Jeremy Makowski — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 14:31:42 +0000

In this second installment of our two-part series on the construction industry, Rapid7 is looking at the specific threat ransomware poses, why the industry is particularly vulnerable, and ways in which threat actors exploit its weaknesses to great effe...

Attackers accelerate, adapt, and automate: Rapid7’s Q3 2025 Threat Landscape Report

Rapid7 — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 13:55:11 +0000

The Q3 2025 Threat Landscape Report, authored by the Rapid7 Labs team, paints a clear picture of an environment where attackers are moving faster, working smarter, and using artificial intelligence to stay ahead of defenders. The findings reveal a thre...

Microsoft Still Uses RC4

Bruce Schneier — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 11:06:44 +0000

Senator Ron Wyden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Microsoft over its continued use of the RC4 encryption algorithm. The letter talks about a hacker technique called Kerberoasting, that exploits the Kerberos authentication system.

AI & Ransomware: Inside the Exfiltration Playbook

Stephanie Doyle — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:15:55 +0000

Exfiltration has become a key tactic in cyber attacks, and cloud misconfigurations contribute to its success in undermining enterprises. Let's talk about important trends and best practices.

The post AI & Ransomware: Inside the Exfiltration Playbook appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup

BlackSuit Continues Social Engineering Attacks in Wake of Black Basta’s Internal Conflict

Tyler McGraw — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Despite a significant decrease in social engineering attacks linked to the Black Basta ransomware group since late December 2024, Rapid7 has observed sustained social engineering attacks. Evidence suggests that BlackSuit affiliates have either adopted Black Basta’s strategy or absorbed its members.

From Ideology to Financial Gain: Exploring the Convergence from Hacktivism to Cybercrime

Rapid7 — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 17:00:00 +0000

The lines between ideologically-driven hacktivism and financially motivated cybercriminals are blurring. Some hacktivist groups are evolving into ransomware operations – even becoming ransomware affiliates – merging the disruptive zeal of hacktivism with the ruthless efficiency of cybercrime.

Australia Requires Ransomware Victims to Declare Payments

Bruce Schneier — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 11:03:34 +0000

A new Australian law requires larger companies to declare any ransomware payments they have made.

Retail Under Siege: What Recent Cyber Attacks Tell Us About Today’s Threat Landscape

Emma Burdett — Tue, 27 May 2025 14:00:00 +0000

When several major UK organizations, including well-known retail brands, found themselves caught in a cyber attack earlier this year, it made headlines – reflecting a growing trend where attackers exploit third-party vendors to breach businesses through a single point of entry.

Key Takeaways from the Take Command Summit 2025: Inside the Mind of an Attacker

Rapid7 — Wed, 21 May 2025 14:00:00 +0000

In one of the most anticipated sessions of Take Command 2025, Raj Samani, Chief Scientist at Rapid7, sat down with Trent Teyema, former FBI Special Agent and President of CSG Strategies, for a candid conversation on how threat actors are evolving and what defenders must do to keep up.

Why is Ransomware Still a Thing in 2025?

Christiaan Beek — Thu, 01 May 2025 15:05:00 +0000

Ransomware remains a crisis because we are still giving attackers the upper hand. To regain control, we need to understand how we’ve made it so easy for them, and what we can do to change that.

AI 101: How AI and Ransomware Are Reshaping Cybersecurity

Stephanie Doyle — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:05:32 +0000

AI is changing the ransomware landscape, empowering both cybercriminals with sophisticated tools and cybersecurity defenders with advanced protection. Today, let's talk about the high-stakes battle for data security.

The post AI 101: How AI and Ransomware Are Reshaping Cybersecurity appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup

2025 Ransomware: Business as Usual, Business is Booming

Chris Boyd — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 13:01:00 +0000

Rapid7 Labs took a look at internal and publicly-available ransomware data for Q1 2025 and added our own insights to provide a picture of the year thus far—and what you can do now to reduce your attack surface against ransomware.

A Rebirth of a Cursed Existence? – The Babuk Locker 2.0

Rapid7 — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:00:00 +0000

In early 2025, we came across a channel promoting itself as Babuk Locker. Since the original group had shut down in 2021, we decided to investigate whether this was a rebrand or a new threat.

Fake BianLian Ransomware Letters in Circulation

Chris Boyd — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:00:00 +0000

On March 5, the FBI issued an alert regarding a mail scam targeting U.S. business executives with extortion. The letters claim to be from noted ransomware group BianLian, demanding a payment in Bitcoin ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 within ten days of receipt.

Disaster Recovery 101: Backup vs. Replication

Kari Rivas — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 17:22:35 +0000

When you're building a disaster recovery strategy, it's crucial to know that there's a difference between replication and backups. Here's what you need to know.

The post Disaster Recovery 101: Backup vs. Replication appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup

CISA Under Trump

Bruce Schneier — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 12:09:53 +0000

Jen Easterly is out as the Director of CISA. Read her final interview:

There’s a lot of unfinished business. We have made an impact through our ransomware vulnerability warning pilot and our pre-ransomware notification initiative, and I’m really proud of that, because we work on preventing somebody from having their worst day. But ransomware is still a problem. We have been laser-focused on PRC cyber actors. That will continue to be a huge problem. I’m really proud of where we are, but there’s much, much more work to be done. There are things that I think we can continue driving, that the next administration, I hope, will look at, because, frankly, cybersecurity is a national security issue...

The 2024 Ransomware Landscape: Looking back on another painful year

Christiaan Beek — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

In this post, we’ll examine the latest data points, discuss notable groups, and estimate the potential impact on victims — helping security teams plan their defenses for the months ahead.

Preventing unintended encryption of Amazon S3 objects

Steve de Vera — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 02:43:53 +0000

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), the security of our customers’ data is our top priority, and it always will be. Recently, the AWS Customer Incident Response Team (CIRT) and our automated security monitoring systems identified an increase in unusual encryption activity associated with Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets. Working with customers, our security […]