Attacks and malware
What is Ransomware?
Malware that encrypts data for extortion. Increasingly the encryption stage is dropped and the threat is publication instead.
Ransomware is malware that encrypts a victim's files or systems and demands payment for the decryption key. Most serious ransomware today is run by organised groups who break into a network, steal data and only then encrypt.
The theft step means paying for a key is no longer the only lever. Groups threaten to publish the data on a leak site, and some skip encryption altogether and extort with the stolen data alone.