(Redmond, WA, Monday, August 22, 2022) – Today Microsoft released the second edition of Cyber Signals, spotlighting Ransomware as a service (RaaS) and the cybercrime economy. Ransomware as a service lowers the barrier of entry to cybercrime enabling a business model where threat actors sell their expertise to anyone willing to pay. Creating a model for cybercriminals without much technical prowess to commit cybercrime while obfuscating the identity of the attackers behind the ransoming.

Cybercriminals can pay a set price for out-of-the-box malware while other groups using this model take a percentage of the profits. A RaaS kit may include customer service support, bundled offers, user reviews, forums, and other features.

To meet this challenge, Cyber Signals outlines how organizations can protect themselves from ransomware attacks and other cyberthreats. It takes new levels of collaboration to meet the ransomware challenge.

Microsoft’s threat intelligence gathers data and insight offering broad visibility into threat actor actions. With an expansive view of the threat landscape – informed by 43 trillion threat signals analyzed daily, and more than 8,500 threat intelligence experts – Microsoft’s threat hunters, forensics investigators, malware engineers, and researchers, see first-hand what organizations are facing and use our signal to pre-empt and disrupt ransomware extortion and other cyber threats.

Soundbites – Vasu Jakkal Corporate Vice President Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity & Privacy

• THE SIMPLEST WAY TO EXPLAIN RANSOMWARE-AS-A-SERVICE, IS AN ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN AN OPERATOR, WHO DEVELOPS THE MALWARE AND ATTACK INFRASTRUCTURE, AND AFFILIATES WHO DEPLOY THE RANSOMWARE AGAINST TARGETS. AFFILIATES PURCHASE INTELLIGENCE FROM VULNERABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND SHARE IT WITH THE OPERATOR TO COMPLETE THE BUSINESS TRANSACTION.
• IN ADDITION TO MAKING MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION A TOP PRIORITY, WE RECOMMEND INVESTING IN ENHANCED SECURITY PROTOCOLS WHICH WILL NOT ONLY MAKE YOUR SYSTEMS MORE SECURE BUT WILL ALSO ALLOW YOUR COMPANY TO SPEND LESS TIME RESPONDING TO THREATS AND REDUCE SECURITY OPERATION CENTER COSTS.
• BUSINESSES ARE EXPERIENCING AN INCREASE IN BOTH THE VOLUME AND SOPHISTICATION OF CYBERATTACKS, COSTING THE US 7 BILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR. BETWEEN MAY 2021 AND JUNE 2022, ABOUT 10 TERABYTES OF DATA WERE STOLEN EACH MONTH BY RANSOMWARE THREAT ACTORS, WITH 58% OF STOLEN FILES INCLUDING EMPLOYEES’ PERSONAL DATA.
• MICROSOFT HAS ACCESS TO 43 TRILLION THREAT SIGNALS WHICH ARE ANALYZED DAILY AND COMBINED WITH INSIGHT FROM OVER 8,500 EXPERTS TO SEE FIRST-HAND WHAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE FACING. IT TAKES NEW LEVELS OF COLLABORATION TO MEET THE RANSOMWARE CHALLENGE, AND THAT MEANS WE NEED TO SHARE INFORMATION BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFER FOR ALL.