Ransomware Attacks: An Overview of Threats and Societal Concerns

This assignment provides an overview of ransomware attacks, a significant and evolving threat in the realm of cybersecurity. It begins with an introduction to the current landscape of cyberattacks, emphasizing the impact of ransomware on organizations and society. The report details how ransomware operates, including the methods used to lock systems and demand ransoms, often in virtual currencies. It explores the reasons why ransomware remains a persistent problem, highlighting the complexity of encryption techniques and the challenges in decrypting data without paying the ransom. The assignment also examines the societal consequences of ransomware, including financial losses, data breaches, and the disruption of critical services. The conclusion reiterates the importance of understanding and addressing ransomware threats to mitigate their impact on organizations and society as a whole.

Running head: OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
AFFECT OF RANSOM WARE ON MODERN SOCIETY
[Enter Name of the Student:]
[Enter Name of the University:]
[Author Note:]

1OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The ransom ware is the malwares that affect the user’s computer and locks down the various
important credentials of the company until a ransom is given to the attackers. The overview of
the ransom ware attacks and their working procedure is described in the report.

2OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Ransom ware attacks..............................................................................................3
Why is this still a problem in the society.....................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

3OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
Introduction
The cyber security is one of the greatest issues in the world of information technology
and the entire information technology is affected by the consequences of the cyber-attacks. The
various small, medium and large scale organizations suffer loss due to this cyber-attacks and it
includes various virus, malware or ransom ware which affects the organizations. The ransom
ware is the most modern and complex type of cyber-attack system which locks down the victims
system and does not provide the access until the demanded ransom is paid (Kharraz et al., 2015).
With the emergence of new technologies and technique the ransom ware have become more
powerful and complex to decode and thus affects various companies throughout the globe, by
which the companies suffer huge losses.
Discussion
Overview of Ransom ware attacks
The ransom ware can be described as the part of the malwares which blocks or locks the
victim’s computer thus not giving any access to them until the required ransom is paid to the
attackers. The ransom ware attacks are mainly done for monetary purposes and the payment are
demanded in virtual currencies so that the attackers cannot be traced back and their identities
remain undisclosed (Brewer, 2016). The ransom ware attacks are becoming more dangerous in
our society as because they are become complex day by day and the decoding process is also
getting tougher. The ransom ware are generally spread through the internet and attachments of
emails and also as infected software applications which when downloaded by the user’s directly
spreads into the victim’s computer and locks down it thus denying any access to it. The ransom
wares also have the capability of deleting or modifying the data of the victim’s computer and the

4OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
data security is hampered due to these ransom ware attacks (Kolodenker, Koch, Stringhini &
Egele, 2017). The attacks ransom ware softwares are mainly available in the deep web and their
only motive or goal is to gather ransom by denying the access of the victim’s data.
Why is this still a problem in the society
The ransom ware are a problem to the modern society as because it gives a huge amount
of losses for the organization which are affected by the ransom ware attacks and many important
data and credentials are also lost due to these attacks. The ransom ware uses certain
cryptographic algorithms and techniques in order to lock the access of data to the user’s and thus
huge ransom are obtained from the victims (Al-rimy, Maarof & Shaid, 2018). The ransom ware
attacks cannot be stopped entirely to date as because the encryption techniques are becoming
complex and strong day by day and it is very difficult to decrypt those encryptions made on the
victim’s important data, files and folders.
Conclusion
The ransom ware attacks have a huge impact on the modern society and the organizations
using the various applications of information technology. The ransom wares are becoming more
complex with time and it is also becoming difficult to decrypt these ransom wares without
paying the ransom to the attackers. Thus it can be concluded that ransom wares are becoming
one of the major problems for an organization which is using the internet.

5OVERVIEW OF RANSOM WARE
References
Al-rimy, B. A. S., Maarof, M. A., & Shaid, S. Z. M. (2018). Ransomware threat success factors,
taxonomy, and countermeasures: A survey and research directions. Computers &
Security, 74, 144-166.
Brewer, R. (2016). Ransomware attacks: detection, prevention and cure. Network Security,
2016(9), 5-9.
Kharraz, A., Robertson, W., Balzarotti, D., Bilge, L., & Kirda, E. (2015, July). Cutting the
gordian knot: A look under the hood of ransomware attacks. In International Conference
on Detection of Intrusions and Malware, and Vulnerability Assessment (pp. 3-24).
Springer, Cham.
Kolodenker, E., Koch, W., Stringhini, G., & Egele, M. (2017, April). PayBreak: defense against
cryptographic ransomware. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM on Asia Conference on
Computer and Communications Security (pp. 599-611). ACM.
Mohurle, S., & Patil, M. (2017). A brief study of wannacry threat: Ransomware attack 2017.
International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 8(5).
O'Gorman, G., & McDonald, G. (2012). Ransomware: A growing menace. Symantec
Corporation.