Ransomware Morphs Into Doxware

Now that companies and individuals are becoming more aware of ransomware, the cybercriminals are upping the stakes by disseminating "doxware."

Doxware is ransomware that still holds the victims files for ransom, but adds a feature that threatens to expose those files on the internet if the ransom is not paid.

Dunbar Security Solutions Chief Operating Officer Chris Ensey said doxware could have the power to “shift the odds in favor of the adversaries."

Companies and individuals may not be willing to have their files posted on the internet or release pictures or messages to people in their contact list.

“This type of malware has an attractive business driver for cybercriminals based on privacy concerns of the affected victims,” Andrew Komarov said via emailed comments. “The percentage of ransom payments is much higher compared to other ransomware where files are simply encrypted.”

"Traditional ransomware campaigns could be easily thwarted by data backups, but when hackers threaten to disseminate data instead of destroying it, users are left with few options besides paying the ransom,” ThinAir Chief Executive Officer Tony Gauda said via email comments.

Companies will need to come up with new ways to protect their data from this new version of ransomware.

Source: SCMagazine