6 Stages of a Ransomware Attack and Payment

Sun Tzu lived and died long before the Internet and ransomware, but his philosophy can still ring true when it comes to cybersecurity. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb to every ransomware attack. While the Institute for Security and Technology (IST) isn’t focused on helping an organization better understand its own strengths and weaknesses, it is looking to promote awareness about cyberattacks, including ransomware, viewing the tactic as a threat to national security.

“Central to mitigating the threat of ransomware is the development of a common understanding of the actors, stakeholders, processes, and information, both required for and produced during the ransomware payment process,” the IST wrote in its report, Mapping the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem, published in November 2022. The report analyzes the overall environment, methods, and processes that enable the extortive practice of ransomware.