Page 162 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Annual RSA Edition for 2024

important for companies to understand that a ransom payment does not guarantee the restoration of data
or the security of compromised systems and data. Criminals cannot be trusted to keep their promises,
but in addition to this, the RaaS structure means that multiple criminals now play a role in many of these
attacks. If the criminals ever have a falling out, as recently happened with ALPHV and its affiliate in the
Change Healthcare ransom payment, the victim could still be on the hook, even after it pays millions.

The ransomware incident should be reported to the FBI, CISA, or the U.S. Secret Service. Law
enforcement can help a victim to prevent future attacks, and if they identify an attacker, the victim’s files
could be decrypted and recovered at no expense.

As the threat posed by ransomware groups grows, organizations should stay informed, act proactively to
protect their networks and invest in cybersecurity.

About the Author

Nataliia Zdrok is a Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst at Binary Defense and is
responsible for researching, collecting and analyzing the latest cyber threats,
attack methods and malware used by cyber threat actors worldwide -- including
criminal organizations, hacktivist groups and state-sponsored hackers. Nataliia
can be reached online via LinkedIn and at the company website:
https://www.binarydefense.com/.

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