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.
For example, LaPorte County in Indiana paid attackers approximately $130,000 while Lake City, Florida paid out about $460,000 to unlock government data after the “Ryuk” attacks -- though both attacks were covered mostly by insurance. And Baltimore was hit by a devastating ransomware attack.
