Ransomware is a 'best seller' on underground hacker forums
By Brooke Crothers | Fox News
Ransomware is a hit with hackers, according to a new study.
In the study “Bestsellers in the Underground Economy: Measuring Malware Popularity by Forum,†Recorded Future’s Insikt Group analyzed over 3.9 million posts about malware from underground forums on the dark and open web during a 12 month period ending in May of this year.
Ransomware ranked as the top malware category mentioned in the forums. “We believe this reflects a growing number of low-level actors developing and sharing generic ransomware on underground forums,†Recorded Future said in the study.
The study also noted that most ransomware requires "an exploit kit, phishing email, or brute-forced credentials, to install the malware on a victim host before it can be run."
In the U.S. this year ransomware has proved to be an effective tool for extracting money from cities and counties, as underscored in a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.
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