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To me at least, it doesn't feel relentless, and it's not sudden at all. It has been relentless for years now. I'm glad to see it getting more attention, finally

To me at least, it doesn't feel relentless, and it's not sudden at all. It has been relentless for years now. I'm glad to see it getting more attention, finally, and more people are suddenly paying attention to the problem. This is a short and sweet look at the problem for people who are just now suddenly noticing the problem. They say it’s the result of inaction, new tactics, criminals having safe harbor and ubiquitous connectivity . I'm surprised they don't call out the "mostly unregulated cryptocurrency" stuff a bit more as a cause as well.

jordanpg 5y ago
It's hard not to see this as ultimately a good thing for the world. The market will not spend one dime more on security than is needed to maintain lines of business, and that includes things like perception of risk and mitigation. If there is enough pain, whatever level of baseline security is needed to protect most orgs against these attacks will become the new standard. And then this threat will be replaced by a new one.
- splithalf 5y ago
  Couldn’t disagree more. If that would happen, why hasn’t it happened yet? There are pirates and terrorists too, and they don’t make the world better or safer, quite the opposite.
- panzagl 5y ago
  I dunno, when I go to Mexico I don't look at the heavily armed guards outside of a bank and go 'gee, it's a good thing there is so much violent crime here otherwise we wouldn't have these armed guards here to protect us from it'.
  - throwaway3699 5y ago
    The internet isn't like that. You can be attacked from one individual living in a mountain in another hemisphere.
- fireball_blaze 5y ago
  I think you're hinting at a Broken Window Fallacy [1] here. I disagree that these cybercrimes are a net positive for the world. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
- notmarkus 5y ago
  It's bad when bad things happen, no one will protect against bad things happening unless bad things happen, so it's good when bad things happen.
  - Miner49er 5y ago
    I see it like a vaccine. A ransomware attack is generally not as bad of a damage as a real attack. A vaccine might make you feel kind of bad, but it's not as bad as the thing it protects against. Plus, there's other benefits. Companies might at least think a bit more about storing data about people (their employees, customers, etc) if there's a risk of it being stolen in a ransomware attack. That's a win for privacy overall.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
amackera 5y ago
On the contrary, every media piece I've read about ransomware mentions cryptocurrency in menacing terms (connected to criminals), many implying cryptocurrency is the cause of this new wave of attacks. Of course, lamenting the fact that cryptocurrencies exist isn't getting us any closer to a solution to the problem, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ media gonna media.
- eli 5y ago
  But cryptocurrency is what led to the scaling up of these attacks.
  - tyingq 5y ago
    It also seems like there's more publicity recently when one happens, both from the victims and the ransom holders. I wonder what percentage of the ransom demands remain private and unknown.
    - eli 5y ago
      Hard not to notice gas shortages across the east coast.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  They "imply" it because it is 100% true. Cryptocurrency is the cause of the rise of ransomware.
JKCalhoun 5y ago
I suspect it was a little harder to demand a ransom when your options were picking up a suitcase of unmarked $20's or a gift card to Home Depot.
gorbachev 5y ago
The big change from what I've seen is the systemic, business-like approach by the ransomware gangs. It's not script kiddies randomly poking at IP addresses any more, but small businesses running with proper planning both operationally and financially.

jordanpg 5y ago

It's hard not to see this as ultimately a good thing for the world. The market will not spend one dime more on security than is needed to maintain lines of business, and that includes things like perception of risk and mitigation. If there is enough pain, whatever level of baseline security is needed to protect most orgs against these attacks will become the new standard. And then this threat will be replaced by a new one.

splithalf 5y ago
Couldn’t disagree more. If that would happen, why hasn’t it happened yet? There are pirates and terrorists too, and they don’t make the world better or safer, quite the opposite.
panzagl 5y ago
I dunno, when I go to Mexico I don't look at the heavily armed guards outside of a bank and go 'gee, it's a good thing there is so much violent crime here otherwise we wouldn't have these armed guards here to protect us from it'.
- throwaway3699 5y ago
  The internet isn't like that. You can be attacked from one individual living in a mountain in another hemisphere.
fireball_blaze 5y ago
I think you're hinting at a Broken Window Fallacy [1] here. I disagree that these cybercrimes are a net positive for the world. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
notmarkus 5y ago
It's bad when bad things happen, no one will protect against bad things happening unless bad things happen, so it's good when bad things happen.
- Miner49er 5y ago
  I see it like a vaccine. A ransomware attack is generally not as bad of a damage as a real attack. A vaccine might make you feel kind of bad, but it's not as bad as the thing it protects against. Plus, there's other benefits. Companies might at least think a bit more about storing data about people (their employees, customers, etc) if there's a risk of it being stolen in a ransomware attack. That's a win for privacy overall.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

amackera 5y ago

On the contrary, every media piece I've read about ransomware mentions cryptocurrency in menacing terms (connected to criminals), many implying cryptocurrency is the cause of this new wave of attacks. Of course, lamenting the fact that cryptocurrencies exist isn't getting us any closer to a solution to the problem, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ media gonna media.

eli 5y ago
But cryptocurrency is what led to the scaling up of these attacks.
- tyingq 5y ago
  It also seems like there's more publicity recently when one happens, both from the victims and the ransom holders. I wonder what percentage of the ransom demands remain private and unknown.
  - eli 5y ago
    Hard not to notice gas shortages across the east coast.
user-the-name 5y ago
They "imply" it because it is 100% true. Cryptocurrency is the cause of the rise of ransomware.

JKCalhoun 5y ago

I suspect it was a little harder to demand a ransom when your options were picking up a suitcase of unmarked $20's or a gift card to Home Depot.

gorbachev 5y ago

The big change from what I've seen is the systemic, business-like approach by the ransomware gangs. It's not script kiddies randomly poking at IP addresses any more, but small businesses running with proper planning both operationally and financially.